Biden finally touts Tesla for being the biggest EV manufacturer in the U.S.

President Joe Biden finally mentioned Tesla on Tuesday when talking about his effort to get more electric vehicles on the road after previously snubbing the company and its CEO Elon Musk at such events.

Musk had expressed his frustration at the exclusion, calling Biden a ‘damp sock puppet.’ 

But the company did get a shout-out Tuesday, when Biden praised Tesla by name, calling it ‘our nation’s largest electic vehicle manufacturer.’ 

Tesla, founded in 2003, produced 23% of the battery-electric (purely electric) market and 16% of the plug-in market (which includes plug-in hybrids) in 2020.

‘Since 2021, companies have announced investments totaling more than $200 billion in domestic manufacturing here in America, from iconic companies like GM and Ford building out new electric vehicle production; to Tesla, our nation’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer,’ Biden said at a White House event on lowering energy costs.

Later Tuesday Biden tweeted about his event, writing: ‘China has been leading the electric vehicle race, but that’s about to change. We’re building a convenient, reliable, equitable national public charging network. It’ll make America more economically competitive and help us tackle the climate crisis at the same time.’

Musk replied to the tweet with a one-word response of his own: ‘Tesla.’ 

Musk and the Biden administration have had a rocky relationship with the celebrity CEO calling the president a ‘damn sock puppet’ over the snubs.

The administration, meanwhile, has expressed its unhappiness that Telsa has no auto unions.  

In August, when Biden signed an executive order outlining a goal to have electric and other zero-emissions vehicles make up half of the new cars and trucks sold by 2030, he was joined at the White House by CEOs from Ford and GM.

Tesla was noticeably missing, even leading Musk to tweet it was odd their company was not invited.

Then, in January, the White House held another event focused on electronic vehicles – once again inviting the CEOs of Ford and GM – but notably not Tesla.

And, when Biden later praised GM and Ford in a tweet, for ‘building more electric vehicles here at home than ever before’, Musk tweeted a fiery response.

The billionaire Tesla CEO replied: ‘Starts with a T, Ends with an A, ESL in the middle.’ 

He later replied again: ‘Biden is a damp [sock] puppet in human form.’ 

In August, White House press secretary Jen Psaki indicated the company was snubbed because Tesla is not unionized.

When asked about Musk’s absence, she said the three big auto makers and top officials with the United Auto Workers were present.

And when pressed on if it was because Tesla was not a union shop, Psaki responded: ‘These are the three largest employers of the United Auto Workers so I’ll let you draw your own conclusion.’

Telsa is the only American auto manufacturer without unions. 

The Biden White House prides itself on its ties to unions. On Tuesday Psaki said the administration would support congressional staff who wanted to unionize.

She also down played an significance of Biden mentioning Tesla by name at his event.

‘I think we all know that Tesla is a major producer of electric vehicles. I think that’s fair to say factually. And certainly, the electric vehicle industry is one that we feel is a huge opportunity for the United States to move towards our clean energy goals and objectives and a range of audit of automobile makers are a part of that effort,’ she said.