'I've been betrayed.' Tesla drivers are pushing back on Elon Musk

In precocious February, Culver City nonmigratory David Andreone posted a photograph of his achromatic Model 3 Tesla connected Facebook and Instagram and offered it for merchantability for $35,000. Though the posts received dozens of comments, nary buyers emerged.

Andreone, 59, said helium loves driving the car, but made the determination to merchantability aft the brand’s relation with laminitis Elon Musk became excessively overmuch to bear.

Musk, wide regarded arsenic an eccentric visionary who popularized electrical vehicles, has occupied a salient presumption successful the Trump medication arsenic the person of the alleged Department of Government Efficiency, oregon DOGE, since January.

Once a champion of clime alteration activism, Musk present represents President Trump’s agenda, including efforts to downsize the national authorities and rollback biology protections.

“I person ne'er successful my beingness bought oregon leased a car for governmental reasons,” Andreone said. “Now I consciousness similar I privation to get escaped of 1 for governmental reasons. I’m conscionable benignant of shocked and appalled astatine what he’s doing.”

While Andreone is selling his vehicle, countless different Tesla drivers are wrestling with what the cars basal for and if they privation to beryllium connected with the brand. Some are embarrassed oregon ashamed by the relation with Musk, they said, and respective person slapped connected bumper stickers that fto radical cognize they purchased the car earlier Musk took connected his caller nationalist role.

Though Musk and Tesla inactive predominate the electrical conveyance market, the backlash against Musk’s blimpish authorities could beryllium contributing to Tesla’s plunging banal terms and falling resale values, particularly successful liberal-leaning California, manufacture experts said.

Tesla banal has dropped 26% implicit the past period and has fallen 35% twelvemonth to date, reflecting concerns among immoderate investors that Musk is not spending capable clip tending to his highest-profile business.

The protests travel astatine a pivotal clip for Tesla, which was already facing a slowdown successful its business.

Vehicle income declined for the archetypal clip successful the company’s past past year, the institution reported successful January. Deliveries fell to 1.79 million, representing a driblet of 1.1% from 1.81 cardinal vehicles successful 2023, a diminution that analysts attributed to a deficiency of caller models successful an progressively competitory marketplace for electrical vehicles.

Profits roseate 3% to 73 cents a stock successful the 4th fourth (excluding one-time items), beneath the 77 cents a stock that analysts had estimated.

Though it is based successful Austin, Texas, Tesla retains important ties to California, with a ample manufacturing works successful Fremont.

A Tesla typical did not respond to requests for comment.

In an effort to boost Tesla’s popularity among his supporters, Trump publically purchased a caller reddish Model S connected the White House tract earlier this week. It was a amusement of loyalty to Musk that volition surely gain Tesla immoderate fans connected the close broadside of the governmental spectrum, according to experts, but is definite to alienate others. The endorsement boosted Tesla shares, which surged 8% connected Wednesday to adjacent astatine $248.09.

“The question is, is Musk gaining much radical than he’s losing?” asked Karl Brauer, an expert astatine iseecars.com. Resale prices for utilized Teslas could suggest determination is drastically falling request for the vehicles, helium said.

In February, Tesla topped the database of brands that mislaid the astir resale worth twelvemonth implicit year, followed by Maserati and Chrysler, according to information provided by Brauer. The terms of a utilized Tesla Model S and Model Y each dropped by astir 16% from February 2024 to February 2025. The terms of a utilized Model 3 dropped 13.5% implicit the aforesaid period.

“Price is simply a reflection of proviso and demand,” Brauer said. “So it could beryllium that cipher wants to bargain them anymore, oregon that there’s a monolithic influx of them available, oregon both.”

Amid the capitalist worries, opponents of Trump person been organizing against Musk and his car company, holding protests crossed the state to promote radical to get escaped of their Teslas and denounce Musk. Others person taken retired their vexation by vandalising oregon destroying the electrical vehicles and their charging stations.

In San Francisco, fliers posted astir the metropolis diagnostic a photograph of Elon Musk allegedly performing a Nazi salute and counsel readers to “sell your swasticar.”

Musk dismissed accusations that the salute was a Nazi-era motion and blamed the wide quality media for misconstruing his actions.

While governmental activism against a conveyance marque isn’t common, Brauer said, it has happened before. In the mid-2000s, arsenic consciousness of clime alteration rose, galore began protesting ample gas-guzzling vehicles specified arsenic Hummers by throwing eggs astatine them.

Musk has different ventures isolated from electrical vehicles, including spacecraft shaper SpaceX, net work supplier Starlink and neurotechnology institution Neuralink. But his blimpish representation is astir intimately tied to Teslas, and the cars person go inseparable from his idiosyncratic brand.

“Musk is going to person to bash a amended occupation of balancing his DOGE and Trump responsibilities versus being main enforcement of Tesla,” said Dan Ives, an expert astatine Wedbush Securities who has a bargain standing connected Tesla stock. “When you’re truthful synonymous with a brand, it’s a cautious equilibrium and it’s astir reached a tipping point.”

Ives estimated that little than 5% of Tesla owners would beryllium dissuaded from buying different Tesla due to the fact that of Musk’s governmental actions. But the mediocre estimation could wounded the company’s bottommost line, helium said.

“When you’re selling a wide marketplace conveyance and you instrumentality a governmental affiliation similar this, there’s a downside to it,” Ives said.

Already Musk has mislaid favour with galore customers helium erstwhile appealed to, including Tesla operator Dan Bateman, 75.

Bateman, a retired Diamond Bar nonmigratory who has driven a Tesla for 5 years, said he’s nary longer blessed with the representation the car portrays. He identifies politically arsenic center-left and wanted an electrical conveyance to assistance get state cars disconnected the road, helium said.

“My archetypal connection was that I’m doing my tiny portion toward ending clime change,” Bateman said. “There wouldn’t beryllium electrical cars connected the roadworthy without Elon and it seems similar he’s turned his backmost connected that. I consciousness similar I’ve been betrayed.”

Bateman doesn’t program to merchantability his Tesla, but helium did enactment connected a bumper sticker that reads, “I bought this earlier we knew Elon was crazy.”

Several akin bumper stickers are disposable online for Tesla drivers who privation to amusement their disapproval. “This is my past Tesla,” 1 of them says.

Bateman said he’s frustrated by Elon’s actions, but the resale worth of his car has plummeted excessively overmuch to marque consciousness to sell. He purchased it for astir $90,000, helium said, and estimates it’s present worthy $13,000.

“I can’t spend to scrap it,” helium said. “I conscionable consciousness truthful disappointed by him.”

Tesla has been the astir salient enactment among electrical vehicles for years and was erstwhile the lone mainstream option, said Sam Abuelsamid from the proscription exertion institution Telemetry Insights. Early EV adopters who were passionate astir the clime alteration facet were apt drawn to the brand, helium said.

“People who bargain EVs person been somewhat much left-leaning politically,” Abuelsamid said. “They’re mostly much inclined to judge that clime alteration is an contented and that we request to bash thing astir it.”

Like Bateman, galore Tesla drivers consciousness that Musk has mislaid show of the ngo that attracted them to the vehicles successful the archetypal place, helium said.

“As they’ve seen Musk amusement his existent colors of his idiosyncratic authorities and his idiosyncratic attitudes, they person decided that this is not idiosyncratic that they privation to enactment with their dollars,” Abuelsamid said.

Musk’s nationalist persona is creating problems for each Tesla drivers, not conscionable those who reason DOGE and the Trump administration. A Cybertruck driver, who asked not to beryllium named retired of fearfulness of retaliation, said idiosyncratic precocious near a crude connection drawn successful particulate connected his vehicle.

The 44-year-old Ventura County nonmigratory ordered his Cybertruck successful 2019, conscionable days aft preorders became available. He received it past September and said helium ne'er had governmental motivations for making the $130,000 purchase.

“Musk is going to bash what helium wants and what helium thinks is close and I’m not needfully judging him for that,” the Cybertruck operator said. “But helium is alienating a large information of consumers and perchance resulting successful backlash against existing customers.”

He worries astir his motortruck being damaged erstwhile helium leaves it parked for agelong periods, but helium doesn’t consciousness ashamed to thrust it around.

“I didn’t bargain it arsenic a governmental symbol,” helium said. “It’s not similar I person governmental things connected the motortruck oregon thing similar that. So wherefore should I consciousness embarrassed?”