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.
Meanwhile, cybertruck owners are doubling down on their wankpanzer purchase.
Cyber truck owners seem like the same people that previously were making fun of EVs.
They seem like the same asshats who would block EV's in at the chargers or take EV parking spots at malls/stores with their overcompensating trucks
adds 'wankpanzer' to lexicon
You might like Incelcamino too, I shamelessly stole it from someone else here.
2018 he called a diver that saved kids a pedo. Anyone who bought a Tesla after that can get fucked.
A year after Tesla was started, he invested into it with shitloads of money.
Then he sued Tesla for the “right” to be called a “founder”.
Worlds most whiny kickstarter supporter
You say that but it's a pretty recent development that there was any significant alternatives to Tesla in the American EV space. Even now that is one of the only options for buying used at a reasonable price. That is finally starting to change but for a lot of people between 2018 and now the choice was between buying another ICE vehicle or a Tesla. I don't blame people for overlooking some of Elon's faults in order to help address climate change, especially since the really crazy side of him wasn't widely publicized until two-ish years ago.
I would say it started around the pandemic, about 4 years ago
I cant stop laughing when I see a Cybertruck. This is the ultimate insecurity toy and the ugliest car ever made.
Ooh, maybe this means cheaper used Teslas.
…but then you’d have to drive a Tesla. Shit.
I have definitely been considering buying used so that I don't support Elon. That's the most important thing to me.
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.
The fact that it is taking this long still shocks me.
I've been seeing more and more of those stickers around the last couple of years. I think this is just the media catching up
be happy it's happening
May impact sales...
Let's face it, people seem to be able to tolerate a lot of shit before they ever actually start showing how they feel with their wallets.
IDK about new car figures, but I'm in the market for another EV. I found a Tesla model 3 long range awd that had done about 150k km, and a Renault Zoe with 15k km and 2/3 the range. The Renault is slightly cheaper, but it's Musk being a loose canon that's the reason why I'm going with the Zoe instead. Sure it's a nicer car, if it works, but the fear that Musk get's high and disables non-essential stuff is too real.
So in my case Musk has directly affected my used car choice.
Oh I don't know, the Budweiser stock hit endured pretty lengthy after being advertised by a non-redneck.
Walletsvotes
Once admired by liberals for his environmental advocacy,
They now know him for the liar that he is.
While Tesla remains the dominant EV maker
Well actually they don't, they've been surpassed by BYD.
I rent a lot of cars for work travel and BYDs are nowhere near as nice as Teslas to drive. That will change in time though, and their batteries are already better I believe.
I've only seen one review, I think it was called Dolphin. Overall the car was reviewed as OK to very good for the price here in Denmark, but the handling was awful.
It shall be interesting to see how well the new LiFePo batteries do, the current gen Blade batteries are allegedly good, but have proven to not be quite as safe as they were supposed to be. Safety was supposed to be a big feature of blade batteries. But in reality, they are only marginally better than other batteries.
I have a beater 97 Corolla. Don't care about stuff hitting it one bit. I wanna get some kind of funny sticker that's like "at least it's not a Tesla" or something like that
Get a sticker “My other car is a piece of shit too.”
We're going to turn in our death trap next year and get something from an actual car company
If you're looking for a similar class EV, I just got the mach-e and I love it.
I myself use a bicycle for local travel, and public transit for longer commutes. Musk's overpriced EVs are not the solution to global warming, IMO.
EVs were not made to save the environment. They were made to save the auto industry.
To be honest, it was almost like they tried to prove EV wasn't feasible, making ridiculously laughable small cars that could only go 60 km/h, and had even worse range. Then they claimed it should be hydrogen, which for a decade went absolutely nowhere. That was until Tesla proved a functional attractive EV was indeed possible.
I hate Elon Musk, but Tesla was a huge leap forward for fully battery electric cars.It is a bit more complex than that. EVs are the necessary replacement for use cases where a car is needed. It is far from reality to think, that we are able to life in a world without cars. There are use cases where a car is absolutely required and here EVs are better than gasoline powered ones. However, a lot of people don't really need one. Especially in the bigger cities it is very easy to live without a car(its also sometimes much faster because when driving in the city you are standing/crawling forwards most of the time)
if Musk ever made the affordable car he's been promising since day 1 I'd be one of these people
He doesn’t deliver on his promises. He didn’t for the people who paid him large amounts for a car, he certainly won’t for the budget minded folk
He already (publicly at least) lost his mind by the time the cyber truck came out but that was the correct direction for a cheap vehicle
Fuck Musk, but the model 3 launched at like $35k and was eligible for a sizeable rebate. If you were already looking to buy a similar sized new car in 2019, it was relatively competitive. I don't remember what the rebate amount was, but I'm sure it took at least $5k off.
The issue is that instead of continuing that trend of basically replacing the Honda Civic, he built a fugly, terrible, overpriced truck whose existence could only ever be excused by its concept being a make-a-wish request from a now-dead six year old. Alas, there are no dead six year olds to blame for that monstrosity. We should've had a reliable and affordable EV accessible to nearly every working family in the country. We should've had a whole damn fleet of EV freight trucks, possibly with some autonomous driving, at least across long interstate roads where they would just need to keep pace, stay in lane, and not crash. Instead we got a newer, dumber, more dangerous Hummer.
Again, fuck Musk. He could've been okay, but he chose to be awful instead.
existence could only ever be excused by its concept being a make-a-wish request from a now-dead six year old. Alas, there are no dead six year olds to blame for that monstrosity.
Brutal but accurate
Elon has became more embarrassing for sure.
I prefer to cut off Teslas because nobody is letting me in anyways, and they've got automatic safety braking. Yes, my signal is on.
I cut off a Tesla once that cut me off first. Asshole was livid, but deserved it. Didn’t think about the safety braking, but that’s a good point, does the Tesla even let them move if someone is cutting them off or do they just have to sit there and let it happen?
The collision avoidance can’t be that good though, because some elderly man in a Tesla backed in to me once.
i don't give a shit. not driving
lol, not looking!
i don’t give a sh
Gonna stop you right there.
Not one penny will I willingly give to this monster.
brainstorms a hellscape situation where a Tesla is regulated into your ownership and every American is forcibly taxed to pay for it
"THANKS FOR THE FREE CAR BASED ELON"
~ Conservatives
You better keep an eye on that goddamn phone, buddy, I'm calling it next year.
Can confirm. Am one. Bought in 2018
You need one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Tesla-Bumper-Sticker-Bought-Accessories/dp/B0C4KHKN4S
I actually have the one that's a red F and after that ELON. I love that it says felon but also fuck Elon.
I think it would be funny to put that on my non-electric Kia Soul lol
Please reach out to my brother in law with this
So sell it? Plenty of musk fanboys will buy and selling used will reduce his income. Unless there are some non-transferable nonsenses that discourage private transfer?
I'm in the market for a used EV - I won't touch a Tesla (not just because of Musk, but he's a part of it).
🤷♂️
I want "I got this before Elon went crazy"
But I drive a Civic
I want "I still did, tho" on the other side
🤣
I would be embarrassed. I crossed t-la off my list when I started looking for an EV last year. Bought an i5 instead, and a t-la adapter in case I ever needed it. When I tried to use that adapter at a t-La super charger I was locked out. It looked like it might be necessary to give $ to melon husk, but they refused to give me e-, so it was no deal. And I found a free outlet elsewhere. Melon Husk, so compostable.
Yeah, paid my non-refundable deposit (grr), saw him buy Twitter, got out of there, bought a Volvo. Nicer hardware, actually preferable highway self driving for me, infotainment does take several minutes to boot. Very glad not to be trusting Musk's word for my safety/privacy.
At least two years late, but good for them anyway, I guess.
We need to popularize videos of people destroying their teslas and driving away in a better car.
Imagine paying for a car, then destroying it to "own" the owner of the company making them LMAO 🤣
Well I am talking about the people who bought them before he signed on with trump and stuff. Most of them can afford it anyway.
Just like MAGAs buying and pouring out Bud Light.