Benzinga | Oct 6, 2020 08:35PM EDT

Elon Musk Says It's 'Crazy' That Europe Subsidizes Pollution

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk suggested Tuesday that European countries need to stop subsidizing fuel-based vehicles.

What Happened: Musk was reacting to a study commissioned by Transport & Environment, a green group, which indicated that leased cars cost European taxpayers $37.7 billion each year -- most of which run on petrol- and diesel-based engines.

"So crazy to subsidize pollution," the billionaire entrepreneur said in a tweet. "This is not good for people, especially in dense cities with heavy traffic, where your air intake is jammed up against another car's exhaust pipe,"

The study urged VAT deductions and write-off to be ended for fossil fuel vehicles and asked that corporate fleets be steered towards 100% emission-free vehicles.

Why It Matters: The study claimed that the top 10 large leasing companies in Europe including Bayerische Motoren Werke's (OTC:BMWYY) Alphabet and Daimler AG's (OTC:DDAIF) Athlon are the cause of 8% of CO2 emissions, because they are driven twice as many miles as private vehicles.

Meanwhile, Tesla vehicle deliveries in Germany grew 24% in the latest 12 months, as of September, making it the only automaker in the European nation to actually see a rise in deliveries so far this year, according to Electrek.

In July, the Palo Alto-based electric vehicle maker introduced a lease option for its Model Y vehicles that costs $499 per month.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 2.55% higher at $425.68 on Monday and fell 0.82% in the after-hours session.

Photo courtesy: The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Transportation via Flickr