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Tesla’s Elon Musk shares brutally honest take on Dems’ revised EV proposal
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has shared a brutally honest take on the US Democrats’ revised EV tax credit proposal, which happens to be heavily pro-union. Musk did not hold back on his criticism, stating that the revisions were likely written by lobbyists who do not have American taxpayers’ best interests at heart. In a way, Musk’s critique is quite valid, considering that Tesla’s two best-selling cars are also recognized as two of the most American-made vehicles in the country today.
This past Friday, US Democrats took the wraps off their proposal for a revised EV credit system, which is part of a proposed $3.5 trillion social spending bill. Unlike the previous proposal — which aims to uncap the $7,500 tax credit, grants an additional $2,500 incentive for cars produced in a union factory, and gives another $2,500 for EVs built in the United States — the revised proposal practically penalizes EV makers that do not employ a unionized workforce.
Under the revised proposal, the $7,500 tax credit would still be uncapped for automakers. However, the legislation also proposes a whopping $4,500 incentive for vehicles that are assembled in a union factory. The proposal aims to award a rather conservative $500 to vehicles that are equipped with a battery manufactured in the United States as well. The revised proposal would apply to sedans priced below $55,000, SUVs priced under $69,000, and trucks that cost $74,000 and below.
Under the revised proposal, Tesla’s electric vehicles would miss out on $4,500 worth of incentives simply because Fremont’s workers have opted to not unionize. The stance of Tesla’s workers at Fremont is not that surprising either, considering that the facility, back when it was being operated as a Toyota-GM join venture called NUMMI, was closed under the watch of the United Autoworkers Union (UAW). The closure of the plant was not received well by NUMMI workers, with some employees publicly clashing with UAW officials during discussions.
It’s not just Elon Musk who has spoken out against the Democrats’ heavily pro-union EV tax credit proposal. Honda and Toyota, both of whom do not employ a unionized workforce in the United States, sharply criticized the Democrats’ revisions. Honda noted that the bill was “unfair” and that it “discriminates among EVs made by hard-working American auto workers based simply on whether they belong to a union.” Toyota, for its part, noted in a statement that the plan discriminates “against American autoworkers based on their choice not to unionize.”
Ironically, Tesla currently produces two of the most American-made vehicles in the country being sold today. This was proven by the results of the 2021 American-made Index from Cars.com, which revealed that the Tesla Model 3 is the most American car in the country, bar none. The Tesla Model Y stands at third place, just a couple of spots below its sedan sibling. “Just one major automaker, Tesla, can claim domestic production for all the cars it sells here,” Cars.com noted.
The Democrats’ proposed revisions to the EV tax credit could be viewed below.
Dems Revised Ev Tax Credit by Simon Alvarez on Scribd
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Elon Musk
Tesla owners surpass 8 billion miles driven on FSD Supervised
Tesla shared the milestone as adoption of the system accelerates across several markets.
Tesla owners have now driven more than 8 billion miles using Full Self-Driving Supervised, as per a new update from the electric vehicle maker’s official X account.
Tesla shared the milestone as adoption of the system accelerates across several markets.
“Tesla owners have now driven >8 billion miles on FSD Supervised,” the company wrote in its post on X. Tesla also included a graphic showing FSD Supervised’s miles driven before a collision, which far exceeds that of the United States average.
The growth curve of FSD Supervised’s cumulative miles over the past five years has been notable. As noted in data shared by Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt, annual FSD (Supervised) miles have increased from roughly 6 million in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and 4.25 billion in 2025. In just the first 50 days of 2026, Tesla owners logged another 1 billion miles.
At the current pace, the fleet is trending towards hitting about 10 billion FSD Supervised miles this year. The increase has been driven by Tesla’s growing vehicle fleet, periodic free trials, and expanding Robotaxi operations, among others.
Tesla also recently updated the safety data for FSD Supervised on its website, covering North America across all road types over the latest 12-month period.
As per Tesla’s figures, vehicles operating with FSD Supervised engaged recorded one major collision every 5,300,676 miles. In comparison, Teslas driven manually with Active Safety systems recorded one major collision every 2,175,763 miles, while Teslas driven manually without Active Safety recorded one major collision every 855,132 miles. The U.S. average during the same period was one major collision every 660,164 miles.
During the measured period, Tesla reported 830 total major collisions with FSD (Supervised) engaged, compared to 16,131 collisions for Teslas driven manually with Active Safety and 250 collisions for Teslas driven manually without Active Safety. Total miles logged exceeded 4.39 billion miles for FSD (Supervised) during the same timeframe.
Elon Musk
The Boring Company’s Music City Loop gains unanimous approval
After eight months of negotiations, MNAA board members voted unanimously on Feb. 18 to move forward with the project.
The Metro Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) has approved a 40-year agreement with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company to build the Music City Loop, a tunnel system linking Nashville International Airport to downtown.
After eight months of negotiations, MNAA board members voted unanimously on Feb. 18 to move forward with the project. Under the terms, The Boring Company will pay the airport authority an annual $300,000 licensing fee for the use of roughly 933,000 square feet of airport property, with a 3% annual increase.
Over 40 years, that totals to approximately $34 million, with two optional five-year extensions that could extend the term to 50 years, as per a report from The Tennesean.
The Boring Company celebrated the Music City Loop’s approval in a post on its official X account. “The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority has unanimously (7-0) approved a Music City Loop connection/station. Thanks so much to @Fly_Nashville for the great partnership,” the tunneling startup wrote in its post.
Once operational, the Music City Loop is expected to generate a $5 fee per airport pickup and drop-off, similar to rideshare charges. Airport officials estimate more than $300 million in operational revenue over the agreement’s duration, though this projection is deemed conservative.
“This is a significant benefit to the airport authority because we’re receiving a new way for our passengers to arrive downtown at zero capital investment from us. We don’t have to fund the operations and maintenance of that. TBC, The Boring Co., will do that for us,” MNAA President and CEO Doug Kreulen said.
The project has drawn both backing and criticism. Business leaders cited economic benefits and improved mobility between downtown and the airport. “Hospitality isn’t just an amenity. It’s an economic engine,” Strategic Hospitality’s Max Goldberg said.
Opponents, including state lawmakers, raised questions about environmental impacts, worker safety, and long-term risks. Sen. Heidi Campbell said, “Safety depends on rules applied evenly without exception… You’re not just evaluating a tunnel. You’re evaluating a risk, structural risk, legal risk, reputational risk and financial risk.”
Elon Musk
Tesla announces crazy new Full Self-Driving milestone
The number of miles traveled has contextual significance for two reasons: one being the milestone itself, and another being Tesla’s continuing progress toward 10 billion miles of training data to achieve what CEO Elon Musk says will be the threshold needed to achieve unsupervised self-driving.
Tesla has announced a crazy new Full Self-Driving milestone, as it has officially confirmed drivers have surpassed over 8 billion miles traveled using the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite for semi-autonomous travel.
The FSD (Supervised) suite is one of the most robust on the market, and is among the safest from a data perspective available to the public.
On Wednesday, Tesla confirmed in a post on X that it has officially surpassed the 8 billion-mile mark, just a few months after reaching 7 billion cumulative miles, which was announced on December 27, 2025.
Tesla owners have now driven >8 billion miles on FSD Supervisedhttps://t.co/0d66ihRQTa pic.twitter.com/TXz9DqOQ8q
— Tesla (@Tesla) February 18, 2026
The number of miles traveled has contextual significance for two reasons: one being the milestone itself, and another being Tesla’s continuing progress toward 10 billion miles of training data to achieve what CEO Elon Musk says will be the threshold needed to achieve unsupervised self-driving.
The milestone itself is significant, especially considering Tesla has continued to gain valuable data from every mile traveled. However, the pace at which it is gathering these miles is getting faster.
Secondly, in January, Musk said the company would need “roughly 10 billion miles of training data” to achieve safe and unsupervised self-driving. “Reality has a super long tail of complexity,” Musk said.
Training data primarily means the fleet’s accumulated real-world miles that Tesla uses to train and improve its end-to-end AI models. This data captures the “long tail” — extremely rare, complex, or unpredictable situations that simulations alone cannot fully replicate at scale.
This is not the same as the total miles driven on Full Self-Driving, which is the 8 billion miles milestone that is being celebrated here.
The FSD-supervised miles contribute heavily to the training data, but the 10 billion figure is an estimate of the cumulative real-world exposure needed overall to push the system to human-level reliability.
Tesla owners surpass 8 billion miles driven on FSD Supervised
The Boring Company’s Music City Loop gains unanimous approval
