The Charlotte City Council on Monday voted 6-3 to remove Tesla from a list of pre-approved electric vehicles the city can purchase.
The city plans to buy 45 new electric vehicles. City staff had a pre-approved list of more than a dozen dealers to purchase the vehicles from, but Democratic council member LaWana Mayfield urged her colleagues to remove Tesla. She said it wasn’t because the company is owned by President Trump’s former close ally, Elon Musk.
“So it is not just the particular owner of this product. It is the fact that this product has been in multiple lawsuits because of safety issues and there are multiple concerns,” LaWana Mayfield said.
Republican City Council member Ed Driggs said all car companies have had lawsuits and recalls.
“I think we just set a dangerous precedent if we have reasons that aren’t related to the cost and the performance of purchased items for excluding them. We already have Teslas in the fleet,” Ed Driggs said.
Joining Mayfield in removing Tesla were Democrats Danté Anderson, Malcolm Graham, Renee Johnson, Victoria Watlington and Tiawana Brown. Driggs and Republican Edwin Peacock voted no, along with Democrat Dimple Ajmera.
