Summary
A survey in the Netherlands revealed that 31% of Tesla owners are considering selling their cars due to Elon Musk’s controversial actions, including his involvement in politics and handling of misinformation on X (formerly Twitter).
About 40% feel embarrassed to own a Tesla, though 51% say Musk’s behavior doesn’t affect their view of the car.
Musk’s leadership of X has also driven users away, with 46% leaving or considering leaving the platform.
Parallel criticism of Mark Zuckerberg for removing fact-checking has fueled similar debates over tech leadership and misinformation.
From my personal observations and conversations with people in the Netherlands this seems about right, and I’d say the 51% are mostly going to be more in the “don’t care” camp, with a tiny portion maybe having a positive view of Elon/maga, we do have right wingers here too even if they’re different.
Is this the new “maga supporters are thinking of not supporting trump” headline for the next ten years?
Sell it or don’t sell it. Who cares? 🥱
I’ve been perfectly happy with my Tesla, if you just look at the car. When i first got it for years ago, it was a real source of joy to me. Now all the joy has been sucked out of it by Musk’s assholery. I want to get rid of it sooner rather than later. Right now there isn’t really anything in the market that could replace it, but as soon as there is, I’ll jump.
so true. I too long for an alternative car that features a fart button and a voice changing megaphone and who the fuck knows what else.
Just don’t buy another one. You’re just funding fascism at that point.
Why isn’t there anything else on the market to replace it? Price?
It’s a combination of price, not being forced to purchase through a dealership, and access to the vastly superior supercharger network.
That dynamic should begin to shift in a few years, with the dealership model being the most sticky. Hopefully the used market will come along.
Note that the supercharger network is broadly available.
Also note that using the network means similarly sending your money to musk.
I have a mustang Mach e and the adapter to plug into supercharger network. Though I’ve never used any DC fast charging at all.
I don’t like SUVs. There just aren’t a lot of electric sedans out there. And despite what you may be hearing in the internet, it’s a damn good car and a lot of the competition just isn’t there yet, especially when it comes to the software.
This is my plan. I figure I have at least 5 more good years with my Tesla. By then there will be plenty of alternate EV options available. I’ll definitely be one and done with Tesla.
I would sell my car the moment I get a proper offer. But no one wants to buy a Tesla here anymore.
So, keep driving the Model Y. But there is zero chance that we will ever buy a Tesla again. At least as long as Musk is able to profit from it.
I’m there with you. We bought the first Model S Refresh. We knew he was a piece of shit then, but the same could be said of any automotive CEO. Then he rapidly got worse and now it’s my shame mobile. I actually love the car, but I feel so fucking gross driving it.
The EV conversion guys like me are all rubbing our hands together to get our hands on cheap donor teslas to stick in much cooler old cars.
My wife and I were planning on buying a Tesla some day. She has wanted one since before we knew the name musk. But when we had to replace her Toyota Highlander after someone hit our daughter in it, we passed over all of the teslas and went with another Highlander.
Good call going with another Highlander. Musk’s stupid, shitty antics have resulted in your getting a superior car.
Highlanders are awesome! It’s basically a rav4 with a camry drivetrain. I want one!
If we did not have 3 dogs over 65lbs we probably would have done a RAV4. But having the 3rd row seating is nice. Gas mileage could be better.
It’s so unfortunate - teslas are really nice cars now that theyve dialed in the quality. Its a perfect size for my needs, has great range for road trips, has features not available elsewhere at any price, and it’s a gadget lovers dream. I really don’t see anything comparable to my Model Y, and so many less capable cars are so much more expensive. Maybe that will start to change this year as other brands start being able to use Tesla Superchargers, but they all really seem a couple years behind in technology, or way too expensive
Ever since musk doubled down on a submarine for rescuing those kids from a cave and clearly couldn’t accept criticism, what has this guy been thinking. I’ll always appreciate his middle career when he helped establish some visionary, inspirational companies like Tesla , SpaceX, StarLink, but he really lost touch with reality. I guess when you have ungodly amounts of money, it’s too easy to see yourself as a god, or something.
teslas are really nice cars now that theyve dialed in the quality
Have they really? With all the problems with the cybertruck I don’t think so. Also there design issues that make them death traps.
Yes, their mass-market vehicles are comparable quality to other manufacturers.
Also, yes, cybertruck was a disaster in several ways. Personally I think it was another case of Musk not wanting to be wrong. Tesla seemed to have given up on it and the world moved on. Then people started saying where was it, and they eventually delivered …. Something. But yes, new design with radically different technology being forced out. Definitely not a smooth release but it’s always a good rule to never by the first model year of anything, much less something radically different.
Anyway, cybertruck is like Highlander 2: it doesn’t exist
Tesla are “nice” as long as you overlook the fact that they’re software data vacuums on wheels that you never actually own, only “license” from Tesla.
I, personally, will never buy a Tesla. I would consider buying an EV, but never a Tesla.
I’m kind of surprised more people aren’t unhappy with their Tesla’s because of the poor build quality. I know they go through patches where the build quality improves and is okay. But there have been so many recalls and problems in general with Teslas. Even aside from Musk being a toxic, loud piece of shit, his company’s cars are overall just not worth the trouble. And that’s not even bringing up the fact that the cyber truck looks like it was designed by a 6 year old on a 386 PC’s CAD program.
I promise to never fly spacex.
Same. Historically they’re not even good EVs.
It sounds like there’s even alternatives to Starlink if you can deal with low bandwidth.
I’m hoping BYD comes west soon personally. You couldn’t pay me to drive a Tesla
Only 3 in 10. Give it another year and that number will be up
You sure about that? Look who’s being inaugurated tomorrow. I have zero faith in the American people.
This survey was conducted in the Netherlands, but yes, faith in Americans in the toilet.
At the end of the day, they are terrible cars. Teslas have the highest rate of of malfunction and low mileage service of any manufacturer in the US by far.
They are beating Ford at their own game!
I don’t know what the CEO of most companies I buy from is like. I don’t know how many of them were friends with Epstein or deny the Holocaust or want slavery to be legal, and I fear if I did know, it would be very difficult to maintain all the boycotts. That and Teslas have some wicked acceleration so I don’t blame people for having them. Unless it’s a cybertruck, those things are ugly af
Teslas also have some horrific privacy/ownership issues, sub-par build quality, and have regularly locked people inside during fires. They also have shitty door handles that ice over in winter, use software updates as a crutch, and Elon Musk makes other vehicle manufacturer CEOs look like saints.
Also, you don’t need to buy from all of them. Subaru is a real company that doesn’t do horrific things and actually has proven that they’re honest when they say that infinite growth is not something they chase.
If the reason you’re afraid to know is because you want to buy stuff and feel good then you have a bigger problem. It’s ok not to know but to essentially refuse to know?
Subaru is a great company: previously my favorite vehicle from back when I used gasoline cars was my Forester. However, they’re late to the EV transition, with underwhelming products so far. Hopefully they’ll be a reasonable choice when I next have to buy a car
My life would get way harder if I had to boycott every bad C-level executive. Keep in mind it’s not just the CEOs profiting off the company. Companies are comprised of many people at each level and many are publicly traded. Think of all the bad people that could be profiting off Subaru, there’s no way they’re all angels. I’d rather not know because the solution isn’t to give customers a laundry list of things not to buy
If you can’t see the difference with Elon, I don’t know what to tell you.
Really easy to stop giving that shitstain money, though.
The difference is he’s a public figure
Ok, but if you do become aware of the bad behaviour because it’s become so in-your-face that you can’t ignore it, do you boycott?
Practically every company has assholes near the top
No, he clearly says he has no principles.
I pick my battles but sure, enjoy being miserable and boycotting everything under the sun
Yeah, I’ve driven probably the majority of EVs on the market, and it’s hard to match how enjoyable it is to drive a Tesla. It’s like driving a spaceship. I probably would have leased one just a couple years ago, but my next car will almost certainly be a Polestar instead.
Honestly, when I test drove the Model S (before the 3 was available) I was left rather unimpressed. It was fast, sure, but it wallowed in corners and just felt heavy. I ended up going for a BMW i3 because it drove like a go-cart. Lower range, and top speed but so much more fun. Never regretted it.
But I’ll lose so much money needing to refill the blinker fluid! :P Seems like it’s not produced anymore though. Maybe I’ll test-drive the i4, though it’s a different class than the i3…
I’ve only tried Model 3 and Y out of the Tesla line, but yeah, I’d pick something else if I wanted a “city car” here in Europe. I’m spoiled, so it feels nice having a “police car” as my daily driver, especially when the price classes here are so comparable. Even the brands that are usually much cheaper when picking an ICE car, are barely cheaper than the more luxurious EV models. (And the used market here is awful, thanks in part to how weak SEK is – most just get exported to the rest of Europe)
The instant acceleration thing is a feature of all EVs. Even the cheapest are surprisingly fast off the line.
If you want something with more sustained acceleration, there are plenty of high performance EVs that will end your Tesla envy.
Yeah, even my Bolt is pretty zippy.
To whom?
probably it would get imported into another country within the EU, it is quite common for used cars in Europe to make their way into the used market in another country.
Just like used American cars make their way to central an south America.
I’m aware of that but people are not stupid. Tesla is locked behind a brick ton of red tape. I have a tire shop nearby that supplies even high luxury cars and super cars. They won’t touch Teslas.
and for how much. lol, there was that ctruck owner that wanted to get his money back, but the price of new ones is now less than what he paid a year ago. Like $20K+ less, but he doesn’t want to sell for that low of a price.
If you want to sell, you sell for what somebody will pay. You don’t get to control that.
Clearly he doesn’t want to sell that badly, yet.
I don’t know, but if they follow through, it must be a damn good time to be in the secondhand market for a BEV.
Hopefully. We need EVs to start having an affordable secondhand market
I’ll take one. I’m planning on getting an EV soon anyways
