Lobbyists for Tesla met senior civil servants in the first few months of Labour’s new Government, according to Freedom of Information documents.
Although the meetings were recorded on departmental disclosure logs, the full details of what was discussed were only released after a Freedom of Information request.
That change, if carried out, could pave the way for Musk’s company to earn significant sums.
It comes as Musk is returning to focus on Tesla after leaving his role in the Trump administration. Tesla sales declined, before rebounding, during his rocky tenure at the Department of Government Efficiency.
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It comes at a time when the Government is facing scrutiny over lobbying, after ministers were gifted free tickets to major events.
Tesla could benefit financially if changes to the green scheme were made.
Traditional suppliers of petrol and diesel such as BP, Shell and Esso are required to blend their fuel with around 15 per cent of biofuels. Suppliers who cannot or do not meet this obligation have to either pay the Treasury 50p for every litre of fuel that falls below this threshold, or buy a certificate from suppliers that have created enough biofuel. This is a form of offsetting aimed at reducing the carbon impact of petrol.
If the scheme were overhauled, it would mean fuel suppliers could buy certificates from Tesla, which makes its own electric car chargers.
The meeting between Tesla and DfT took place on 2 August 2024How Labour responded to Tesla’s lobbying
In response, Ward said she would “pick up on” the exclusion of electricity from the RTFO with “the team”.
And ChargeUK, which supports companies installing electric charge points including Tesla, has warned that not including electricity in the RTFO scheme risks undermining the UK’s transport decarbonisation strategy.
Impact of Tesla ‘muscling in’
Gaynor Hartnell, chief executive of the Renewable Transport Fuel Association (RTFA), said that Tesla, a company valued at more than a trillion dollars, was trying to “muscle in” on a scheme that is only for the UK biofuel industry.
Hartnell also noted that under proposed changes to the RTFO, more money from traditional fuel suppliers would go towards electric vehicle charging companies like Tesla, rather than being reinvested in cleaner biofuel development.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said any changes to the RTFO could make an already complex scheme more confusing, and potentially raise bills. According to the University of Warwick, the RTFO has led to a pump prices rise of 5p per litre because biofuels are more expensive than petrol or diesel.
A DfT spokesperson said: “Any suggestion that Tesla has gained a commercial advantage from meetings with the department is false. Officials routinely meet industry stakeholders to discuss a range of issues affecting the transport sector.”
A Tesla spokesperson declined to comment.
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