(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump used a long-ranging conversation with billionaire donor Elon Musk on Monday night to urge the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer’s followers to vote for the Republican presidential candidate. But Musk also had a more subtle message for Trump supporters: Stop demonizing EVs.
Musk said the world should move toward sustainable energy and that battery-powered cars could be part of that future without requiring people to give up the things they like to do. “When you look at our cars, we don’t believe that environmentalism, that caring about the environment, should mean that you have to suffer,” Musk said. “So we make sure that our cars are, are beautiful if they drive well, if they’re fast, they’re, you know, sexy.
” Musk’s pitch to Trump supporters comes as the carmaker’s sales and output have been slumping in recent quarters, and Tesla has said its volume growth will be “notably lower” in 2024. In the US, the adoption of electric vehicles have been shaped by partisan politics and sales have lagged in Republican strongholds. In recent months, though, Trump has begun praising Teslas and on Monday said Musk makes an incredible product.
In addition to taking politics out of the discussion around EVs, Musk also said he didn’t believe in vilifying the oil and gas industry. The global economy still needs fossil fuels or else it would “collapse,” he said. “I don’t think we should vilify people for it, but I think we should ju.