Tesla owners turn against Musk: ‘I’m embarrassed driving this car around’
Tesla owners turn against Musk: ‘I’m embarrassed driving this car around’
The electric car brand was once a liberal favourite – but the CEO’s embrace of Trump has led to an angry backlash
Summary
Elon Musk’s vocal support for Donald Trump and promotion of far-right conspiracy theories has alienated many Tesla owners, who now express embarrassment over their cars.
Sales of anti-Musk stickers, such as “Anti Elon Tesla Club,” have surged as owners distance themselves from Musk’s politics.
Once admired by liberals for his environmental advocacy, Musk’s alignment with Trump and leadership in his administration have sparked backlash.
While Tesla remains the dominant EV maker, analysts warn Musk’s polarizing image may impact sales as competition grows and Trump plans to cut EV tax incentives.
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While Tesla remains the dominant EV maker, ...
BYD has entered the chat.
The US will just slap enough tariffs to make them roughly the same price as the competition.
No need. You can't even legally import them.
As your Canadian buddy, do you want a hookup? We'll meet on the border of Alberta and Montana under the moonlight where the moose crows.
moose crows.
A terrifying hybrid species that weigh a thousand pounds, can fly, and remember the faces of those who have wronged them.
Here you go
lmao Canadians cant import BYD either. Check out the stupid rules for importing cars we have... Gonna have to wait 15 years for those imports.
Yeah - but I bet a few Canada Goose jackets to the right guy will get me a waiver.
And if that doesn't do it, release the geese.
I'm afraid you're gonna have to be more specific.
Not if we slap tariffs on Canada…
Enjoy that Aunt Jemima with your pancakes, buddy.
We've still got Vermont. We'll be ok.
As a former Vermonter with a lot of state pride... you'd be amazed how few gallons Vermont actually produces! Also, if shit really hits the fan, we might end up with Vermont too!
If you guys take Vermont, the rest of New England won't be far behind.
I’m not your buddy, guy
I'm not your guy, fella.
I'm not your guy, pal
I'm not saying no. What can we bring for the trade? I'm not really sure what Canada needs from the US at this point, but we're willing to be flexible.
As is the way of the "free market". Us automakers aren't even trying to compete, half their EVS are massive SUVs/trucks instead of smaller, lighter, more effecient designs.
They are very much competing.You're just confused about what they're competing in. It's profit, not size of vehicle, or efficiency or what have you. The F-150 is still the top selling vehicle in North America. Turns out small vehicles make less profit so they stopped making them and inflated the size of all remaining models.
Which is defintely a great strategy to reduce transportation emissions. And clearly everyone NEEDS a truck.
Car companies sell what customers want, not what they need.
Wants that have been created from decades of propaganda by the auto industry.
Do you want a truck too? Or are you the only person capable of resisting the power of auto industry propaganda?
The fact that people in different places do not all want the same cars is strong evidence that their wants result from human agency, not auto propaganda.
Yes, not all people are immediately going to buy a giant truck because of propaganda. But it doesn't have to be everybody, it just has to influence enough people to change the trend over time.
If so, people would be buying as many trucks in the EU and Japan as we do. They've had just as much time as we have.
Look what is on the roads in nearly any other country and you will realize that north Americans have way more personal pick ups and massive SUVs. If you ever see an american SUV like a suburban in a place like Japan or a european city, it looks super out of place compared to the other cars on the road.
That's my point. Those countries have the same auto companies we do. If "auto propaganda" was responsible for people buying trucks, then those countries would be full of trucks too.
A want a decent electric sedan/hatchback but here we are.
A SUV is too big for what I need.
The SUV costs more upfront, costs more to recharge, has larger tires which cost more and pollute more. The costs really add up fast if you are living on a budget.
So far I'm sticking with Toyota as they're generally reliable and common enough that spare parts are relatively cheap and the tire size makes it not a huge expense, but they sure take their sweet fucking time to bring EVs on their sedan range..
There's the Bolt, Leaf, MachE, Ioniq...
Or are car companies only offering the bigger models because they make more profits?
The Chevy Bolt, a subcompact EV, has been around since 2016. The Nissan Leaf has been around since 2010.
Subcompacts of all types, EV and ICE alike, simply don't sell as well as trucks in the US.
Which is exactly the same pattern they repeated in the 70s. Which is when Japan ate their lunch.
This time though is a little different, with China's vastly lower worker costs, and possible government subsidization in an attempt to corner the world auto market. I can understand and agree with the 100% tariff.
I'd be fine with the tarrif if there was a manufacturer actually trying to compete. Instead it feels like "nooo we can't have byds cars here, americans need the electric F250 supercab!!!"
I'd also be fine with the tarrif if there was going to be massive investments in public transit which could reduce the need to own a car and transit tends to be more effecient than even the best EVs and is more fair to more people.
I'd be fine with the tarrif if there was a manufacturer actually trying to compete
What about all the Japanese, Korean, and European brands selling cars here? Is there another market outside of China, where everything is sold well below cost after being built using slave labor and lax environmental regulations, where new cars are as cheap as you want them to be? I think they are competing but the cars are just expensive to build. China is hiding that expense from buyers just long enough for them to try to take over every local market at which time there will be no reason to keep them subsidized because all the competition will be gone.
America uses slave labor in the same way, plus with prisoners, so where's our ultra cheap EVs? Apparently we need to use our "resources" better.
I think it's a complicated situation but the legitimate reason for the tariffs (not just Musk shoveling money into Tesla) is that battery production is a strategic interest for drones and other military equipment.
I think it's logical we should make sure the US battery industry is able to develop.
Hoping Aptera takes off tbh
What about the rest of the industry in the US? I don't know why people focus on the two remaining US ICE manufacturers and ignore the dozens of other foreign manufacturers that sell vehicles here when discussing Chinese EVs.
Ever heard of dumping? Because that's exactly how you fight it.