Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company has received almost £200 million in grants from the UK government since 2016, according to one analysis.
Tesla, run by the tech billionaire who has become increasingly vocal about the UK government, has received £191 million from Westminster through grants, according to Tussell, which analyzes public contracts data.
The bulk of the funding came from the Department for Transport (DfT), which has donated £188m to the company over that period.
Transportation funds related to plug-in car subsidywhich was designed to encourage the adoption of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Introduced in 2011, the grant provided a discount on the cost of new plug-in cars, initially of £5,000, until the scheme ended in June 2022. The seller included it as a discount on the purchase price.
Transport grants peaked at £61.6m in 2020 and have fallen since, with the company receiving £49,000 in the first six months of last year, latest DfT figures show.
The rest of Tesla’s UK grants came from Stirling council, the South Central NHS trust, the Scottish government and various other bodies.
Tesla’s appearance as a recipient of UK government subsidies contrasts with Musk’s talk of shrinking the state and cutting federal spending.
He has been appointed by the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, to co-lead a “Department of Government Efficiency,” charged with reducing federal bureaucracy. Musk, who cut staff by 80% at X, formerly Twitter, after buying the social media platform in 2022, has said the 428 federal agencies in the US could be reduced to 99.
Last week, Tesla reported its first drop in annual deliveries as incentives failed to boost demand for its aging model lineup. The company missed quarterly delivery targets several times in 2024.
Musk, the richest man in the world, has in recent days used X to attack Keir Starmer and other politicians over the grooming scandal.
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On Monday, the prime minister condemned Musk’s increasingly erratic attacks on the government, suggesting his “lies and misinformation” about recruiting gangs were amplifying the “poison” of the far right.
Tesla has been contacted for comment.