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.

    • takeda@lemmy.world
      93·
      2 years ago

      Cyber truck owners seem like the same people that previously were making fun of EVs.

      • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        19·
        2 years ago

        While I appreciate the gender neutrality, it made me wonder: are there any women who voluntarily own a cyber truck? Every douchebag I see in or posing with one is a guy.

          • Batman@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            16·
            2 years ago

            I’m going to need some data for that one before I believe it. In the US, I have known many women who own trucks. I have lived in rural and urban areas and both had plenty of women who owned and drove trucks, including semi cabs. I could believe less by comparison but not “not many” without some data.

            • krashmo@lemmy.world
              8·
              2 years ago

              Just an anecdotal observation. A very small amount of trucks I see have women driving them. Could be lots of reasons for that but the simplest seems to be that women don’t buy them near as often. I don’t feel like an offhand remark needs a citation, though you’re welcome to look it up if you find the subject interesting enough to warrant further research.

              • Dragon Rider (drag)@lemmy.nzBannedBanned from communityEnglish
                5·
                2 years ago

                Another explanation is that women who buy trucks are more likely to also buy tinted windows. Which is reasonable because both are ways a woman can feel more secure and protected in a vehicle.

      • DNEAVES@lemmy.world
        4·
        2 years ago

        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

  • Nougat@fedia.io
    69·
    2 years ago

    While Tesla remains the dominant EV maker, …

    BYD has entered the chat.

    • m-p{3}@lemmy.ca
      45·
      2 years ago

      The US will just slap enough tariffs to make them roughly the same price as the competition.

      • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
        38·
        2 years ago

        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.

        • Steve@communick.newsEnglish
          12·
          2 years ago

          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.

          • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
            18·
            2 years ago

            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.

            • CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee
              4·
              2 years ago

              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.

                • CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee
                  2·
                  2 years ago

                  Most of these brands do manufacture in the US, though, and even Ford and GM manufacture in Canada and Mexico. My issue is with people claiming that these tariffs (prior to Trump) are just protectionism for the couple remaining US companies when they’re not. They’re protectionism for the entire US auto market, which mostly consists of foreign brands.

              • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
                1·
                2 years ago

                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.

          • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
            5·
            2 years ago

            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.

        • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
          9·
          2 years ago

          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.

                • FlowVoid@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  1·
                  2 years ago

                  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.

              • m-p{3}@lemmy.ca
                8·
                2 years ago

                A want a decent electric sedan/hatchback but here we are.

                A SUV is too big for what I need.

                • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
                  2·
                  2 years ago

                  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.

                • FlowVoid@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  2·
                  2 years ago

                  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.

        • CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee
          1·
          2 years ago

          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.

  • ⓝⓞ🅞🅝🅔@lemmy.ca
    48·
    2 years ago

    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.

    • BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works
      14·
      2 years ago

      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.

    • recapitated@lemmy.world
      14·
      2 years ago

      Oh I don’t know, the Budweiser stock hit endured pretty lengthy after being advertised by a non-redneck.

  • Brodysseus@lemmy.world
    39·
    2 years ago

    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

  • MarkG_108@lemmy.caEnglish
    26·
    2 years ago

    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.

      • da_cow (she/her)@feddit.org
        1·
        2 years ago

        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)

  • explodicle@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    26·
    2 years ago

    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.

    • phoneymouse@lemmy.worldBanned
      7·
      2 years ago

      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.

  • metaStatic@kbin.earth
    24·
    2 years ago

    if Musk ever made the affordable car he’s been promising since day 1 I’d be one of these people

    • Trashboat@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      35·
      2 years ago

      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

      • metaStatic@kbin.earth
        10·
        2 years ago

        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

    • MrVilliam@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22·
      2 years ago

      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.

      • ArtieShaw@fedia.io
        12·
        2 years ago

        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

      • metaStatic@kbin.earth
        10·
        2 years ago

        I believe he was always awful he was just bad at showing it, the balding man child with no public speaking skills was kinda relateable.

        Unfortunately his core audience didn’t get the hairplugs and cocaine nose jobs required to keep him relateable.

          • metaStatic@kbin.earth
            6·
            2 years ago

            I honestly don’t think he ever tried to hide it, just ask his employees from the time.

            He was simply terribly awkward in public and people mistook him for a normal guy.

        • MrVilliam@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          Yeah, you’re probably right. I never thought “good” was on the table for him, but if he had used his wealth to get enough good things done for everybody, I could’ve overlooked a few things and thought of him as “okay”.

  • FlowVoid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    2 years ago

    Former owner here. Such a relief to be rid of it. Never again as long as Musk remains at Tesla.