Ross Gerber Says Elon Musk Is 'Partially Responsible' For EV Rollback In US

Investor Ross Gerber, co-founder of investment firm Gerber Kawasaki, thinks Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is to be blamed, in part, for the rollback of EVs in the U.S.

Capsulizes Many People's Thoughts, Says Ross Gerber

The investor quoted a post on the social media platform X on Thursday by user TeslaTruckClub, who shared an article expressing his frustrations with Musk, including the larger scaling back of EV efforts in the U.S. and how the CEO is "personally partially responsible" for decelerating the U.S.'s transition to "sustainable transportation and energy."

Gerber, quoting the post, said that the article's concerns were shared by many. "I think this capsulizes many people’s thoughts on tesla/elon," Gerber said. The claims stem from Musk's deep ties with President Donald Trump. 

The billionaire, who bankrolled Trump's campaign and donated over $250 million, was instrumental for Trump's second term in office during the 2024 Presidential Election, something for which he has hailed Musk. Trump, since taking office, has announced several policy changes that have been detrimental to EVs and Clean Energy. Trump has also claimed to end former President Joe Biden‘s “war on internal combustion engines” with his policies giving rise to an “EV mandate.”

Gerber Issues Warning

The investor had earlier expressed concern about Tesla's move to offer the Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology as a subscription service only, eliminating the one-time payment option of $8,000 upfront. Gerber warned that the move could be a sign of Tesla's fading technological advantage over its competitors.

Elon Musk Touts Lithium Refinery

Meanwhile, Musk has touted Tesla's new Lithium refinery as the largest facility to extract Lithium Oxide from Spodumene, a naturally occurring ore described as a crucial source of lithium, which in turn is crucial for EV batteries as well as Tesla's booming energy storage business, which reached a record 14.2 gigawatt-hours in Q4. The facility is also the first of its kind in the U.S., according to Tesla.

According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, Tesla scores well on Momentum and offers a favorable price trend in the Short, Medium, and Long term.

Price Action: TSLA declined 0.14% at Market close on Wednesday to $438.57, but gained 0.21% to $439.49 during After-hours trading. 

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