It’s not the brightest moment for Tesla. The electric car giant has had to announce thousands of layoffs over the past year and has staged a historic strike in one of the European markets where plug-in vehicles are most widely adopted, Sweden.
And this summer, it adds up and continues. The company chaired by billionaire Elon Musk saw how the European Commission was going to introduce customs duties on sales of its vehicles in the EU, where it is also losing strength as the best-selling electric car brand. To this, it also adds the controversy over the felling of almost half a million trees for the construction of its factory in Germany and the problems with its truck in the United States.
The latest setback came from Brussels. Last week, the EU Executive confirmed that Tesla will be among the companies in the sector that will benefit from a tariff because, by manufacturing its car batteries in China, it benefits from the aid granted by the government of that country. In your case, the tariff will be 9%, significantly lower than that of the other competitors of the Asian giant. For example, in the case of BYD or Geely, the tariffs reach 17% and 19.3% respectively.
These 9% for Tesla are not yet final, because the companies have two weeks – starting from August 20 – to present claims, then the consultation period with the member states will open. The final decision from Brussels will be known on October 30. And from there, we will know for sure when the tariffs will be applied.
Initially, they will be valid for five years, but they could be extended if we consider that China continues to inject funds into car and battery manufacturers to make them more competitive than their “made in Europe” rivals.
While we wait for these details, which will predictably increase the price of its models, Tesla’s sales in Europe are already suffering. In July, German group BMW overtook the American company for the first time as the leading electric manufacturer in terms of sales, according to data published by automotive consultancy Jato Dynamics. The differences are not very significant: 14,869 BMW electric vehicles were registered in July, compared to 14,561 for Tesla. But they reflect the progress of European automakers.
Furthermore, the fact that other manufacturers have mobilized is not a phenomenon reserved for Europe. In the United States, until now, Tesla had sold more electric vehicles than all its competitors combined. However, the latest data published in this country indicate that distances are getting shorter.
In one year (from May 2023 to the same month of 2024), the group led by Musk sold 618,000 electric vehicles in its domestic market, compared to 597,000 added by other companies, which indicates that its almost absolute dominance is losing momentum, and not only because Chinese models are cheaper, but also because of competition from other more traditional manufacturers, such as General Motors.
In this scenario, Tesla has chosen to lower prices. In Spain, around 2,000 euros per model. However, this has not been enough to inject oxygen into its turnover and income statement. In the second quarter of the year, the multinational’s revenue from car sales fell 7%, to 19,878 million dollars (around 17,800 million euros at the current exchange rate). And its profit fell 45%, to 1,478 million dollars.
In the presentation to investors, he acknowledges that this bad data is due to the fact that he is selling fewer cars of all his models (3, S, layoffs – and because he is spending more on different investment items, among others, on artificial intelligence.
Environmental crisis in Germany
Aside from the economic data, Tesla is facing reputational damage. The construction of its factory in Germany, near Berlin, has already led to the destruction of around half a million trees. Specifically, satellite images of the area where the factory is located indicate that between March 2020 and May 2023, 327 hectares of forest were cut down, according to information published by The Guardian.
This Tesla factory has already been criticized by environmental protection associations, as we have done on this subject, in a “gigafactory” that has only been in operation for a few years but is in the process of expanding, with the aim of doubling production and reaching one million vehicles per year.
Musk has criticized police action during the protests and raised the issue via his social media,
Moreover, the felling of trees is not the only environmental criticism leveled at the German plant. In addition, its operations involve the use of a significant amount of water, as local authorities have authorized the use of up to 1.5 million cubic meters each year.
The first accident of his electric truck
Tesla is not only having problems with its cars, but also with its electric truck. The National Transportation Safety Board, the American transportation safety agency, has opened an investigation into the accident of a Tesla Semi, a transport vehicle that transports parts from the Reno (Nevada) factory to the San Francisco (Nevada) factory in California. ended up burning on a highway, but without causing any casualties.
He Semiwhich is not yet on sale but which Tesla uses for its transport, uses only lithium batteries. In this event, the truck burned for four hours, which led to the opening of this investigation due to the implications that these models could have on fire, given that it is estimated that a truck of this type carries batteries equivalent to the sum of 10 of their electric cars.
Tesla claims, detailing the Semi truck’s specifications, that it can be recharged up to 70% in half an hour and that it can save up to $200,000 over three years.
The fire is reminiscent of other Tesla accidents involving its Autopilot driving assistance system. Late last year, the same US road safety regulator forced it to review this driving system, used by nearly two million cars, after studying the risks of possible accidents and analyzing nearly 1,000 accidents.
