But Musk later changed his mind, reportedly donating $45 million a month of his money to the pro-Trump political action committee American PAC.
`Nuff said. CEOs are often Republican, but to be this outspokenly political is normally a bad thing for CEOs like Musk. Media company heads (and Twitter/X is a media company) are supposed to at least pretend to be neutral.
And catering to the far-right seems like a bad idea if your company makes EVs. But what do I know?
Maybe this means that all the Republicans will buy electric cars now to own the libs.
Man, I’d feel soooo owned if they did that. Ugh, what if they all went out and got solar, too? Then we’d really be fucked. What are we, if not a bunch of electric car driving, latte drinking, solar panel punks? At least we’d still have the lattes, I guess.
You joke but there’s a company right now selling solar power “own the libs who control the power boards.”
It’s a step in the right direction, I guess.
Isn’t it so funny how they hate liberals for doing/wanting the things they claim to be the champions of?
Surely that’s reverse psychology?
Solar is a weird rabbit hole of the kind of people who get it. It’s like the epitome of horseshoe theory, where you either have the left-leaning eco-conscious sorts, or the far-right doomer/prepper “I hate the government so much I’m going to live off-grid” types who are the main people interested in it.
It’s very weird researching solar stuff sometimes, because the advertising will either focus on the more typical performance metrics like W/m² and smart-home integration, or their ability to withstand an EMP and the fact they have no 5G chips in them and shit.
I think there’s another one too with a similar brand and marketing. I suppose that’s a good thing.
There’s one called Semper Solaris that’s full on with the military branding. “Declare your independence from the greedy power companies” etc.
Interesting thing is, they’re actually a very competent company who hires former marines and has massive discounts for veterans.
Veterans who were sent to war for oil companies, turning to installing solar power is a top tier ‘fuck you’
I shall call this “Rightwashing.” Taking eco-friendly traditionally “liberal” products and slapping some camo and maybe a gun decal on them to make them appeal to conservatives.
Can’t we just tell them getting power from the grid is Socialism so they will think putting up solar panels is the way to keep power in Texas, Florida… Most anywhere without having to rely and the government. You know, like becoming free from energy dependence or something.
https://www.sempersolaris.com/
Energy independence, panels made in America, discounts for vetetans, etc. Tell your electric company, “You’re fired!”
Arugula! Free tan suit with every bunch of arugula! Come ‘n get ‘em!
Tesla is synonymous with Musk, which disqualifies it for consideration when purchasing an EV.
Around 9 years ago I very much wanted a Tesla and thought Musk was a genius. All he had to do to keep everyone thinking that was shut up.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.
Lots of stims plus ketemene make that hard
As well as taking loss after loss since his pedophile accusation against that seasoned, professional cave diver made fun of his idea to rescue those kids from a cave. He just keeps trying to save face and making it worse.
Takes one to know one.
I know I’m a fool, it’s why I don’t attach my name to my social media
I was simply going along with what is also a Simpsons quote
The problem is that it is his narcissism that drives him to want to be adored by everyone. As such, he can’t actually stop talking.
Literally the exact same problem Trump had during COVID. Fauci was giving press briefings every day and we all loved him for it. Problem was we loved him more than Trump and that’s when Trump just had to have the spotlight once again.
Also the drugs
Yeah. Tesla was a status symbol, and Musk has put in long hard extra hours of work to convert it into a shitty status symbol.
For folks out there that Musk hasn’t personally offended, I suspect they’ve got to be at least mildly aware that it’s more a matter of “when” than “if”, at this point.
Tesla will go bankcrupt in five years, unless they toss Musk out. He will do some stupid shit that will crash the whole company, like endorsing a political candidate who is talking of making EV’s illegal.
I’m a Democrat and a Tesla owner. No way in Hell will I buy another Tesla as long as Musk is involved in any way with the company. It would actually take a significant overhaul of both the company and their cars to convince me to buy another one.
I would sell it before Musk decides to find a list of all democratic supporters and start screwing up their cars out of pettyness. And let’s not even pretend for one second the man child wouldn’t do that.
Or release real-time, geographic info on democrat Tesla drivers to right-wing militia groups to take care of. I don’t think he’d just let shit go. Look at the Elon plane account for a digital representation.
Same
Same here. Technologically they’re being surpassed and quality wise, well from what I can tell from looking at these newer model 3’s that people at work have been buying, has not improved at all. Plus being a absolute public fascist? Yeah, I’ll buy my next EV from another manufacturer thanks.
That’s the kind of smart CEO behavior that justifies his almost $45B+ compensation package. /s
Remember years ago when people said - out loud, ostensibly seriously - he’s a genius? I think all those people need to be kicked in the ass.
He “endorsed” Trump. LOL. That’s a chump, not a genius.
How do Trump’s policies affect him?
Not saying he’s a genius, but everything Trump is promoting benefits Musk.
Yeah, like talking of making EV’s illegal.
Well maybe not illegal, but more expensive
As of 2022, 37% of Musk’s wealth was due to Tesla stocks.
but think of how much tesla stock you can buy with your educational credit account that’s supposed to pay for your kids elementary school (see project 2025)
And catering to the far-right seems like a bad idea if your company makes EVs. But what do I know?
yet tesla’s are still highly coveted status symbols somehow
Tesla sales are down dude, despite Tesla offering the lowest prices, cheapest deals and best financing in years.
Lower prices, fewer sales despite EV market growing (more EVs were sold this year than ever before, despite Tesla losing sales numbers). The used market for Tesla is collapsing, especially as Hertz sells thousands of vehicles at far below market price trying to recoup whatever they can from the auction market.
i don’t doubt that sales are down; i’m trying to understand how they’re still so coveted all over social media.
Who owns the social media that you’re looking at?
Spoiler: Its some tech-bro who owns the media, isn’t it? Well… hopefully that answers that question.
In car circles, Toyota / Hondas are the most coveted cars for their reliability and drivability. Alternatively, American car buyers have weird metrics (like Jeep’s offroading capabilities, Hummer’s shear size, Truck’s capabilities and all that).
Truck owners laugh at how Cybertruck gets stuck. Econobox / Toyota fans laugh at the terrible reliability and large number of issues found by Consumer Reports / JD Power. The only raw-stat that anyone can seriously praise for Tesla is 0-to-60 time, but even then car enthusiasts are keen on the 5-60 times that Tesla actually publishes and see Tesla as dirty cheaters.
The only people who think that Teslas are cool are Tech-bros, who are overrepresented in social media.
If you actually look at the numbers (ex: sales, price, or other real metrics), its clear that Tesla’s reputation has tanked this year.
I have a 2001 Honda Civic. I refuse to stop driving it until the motor gives out. At this point, I think it might outlive me.
If you keep up with maintenance, including all fluids, it just might. Uncle had a tiny Toyota truck, think hilux
Kept up with maintenance and replaced parts as they went. He had to let it go when the frame was rusting through. Over 30 years as his daily driver.
Hilux don’t die, they just rust away
I’ve done rust hole patches, but grandpa’s small toyota pickup was more patch than original steel by the time it got written off following being hit by another car while parked. We probably could have fixed it but grandpa took it as his sign to give up his license and accepted whatever icbc suggested for dealing with the truck.
The only people who think that Teslas are cool are Tech-bros, who are overrepresented in social media.
i think this answers my question; i’m a software developer and all my colleagues & bosses think tesla’s are awesome and i mostly follow tech influencers on social media.
maybe it’s a good thing that i this job market is forcing me to go back into IT; i’ll run into fewer tech-bros.
By what sort of people, though? I know two people who have a Tesla: one of them regrets owning one now (even though they bought it used), and the other’s a huge fucking pile of shit in the shape of a person.
yeah, this thread is making me realize that i’m a software-developer/tech-bro bubble
Hey, props for realizing it. Most software dev tech bros refuse to acknowledge that they’re in a bubble. Now you can start to step out of it.
Now you can start to step out of it.
not if i want to stay employed; being likeable is more important than the hard skills in my field unless i’m some sort of savant and liking the same things helps.
Sounds like a terrible way to live
3 second 0-to-60 times probably have something to do with it.
They do have good 0-60 times, but they’re very heavy, they don’t turn well, and they overheat if you push them hard, so anyone who wants a sports car isn’t going to look at a tesla. Their biggest advantage is probably the supercharger network, but that advantage isn’t going to last much longer.
What, just because he fired everyone and no one’s answering the phones anymore?
Pshaw. Everything’s going to plan.
i’m trying to understand how they’re still so coveted all over social media.
Botnets.
There’s also a not-so-unfounded conspiracy that Tesla has a significant number of employees going onto social media to create that narrative.
Not to mention one of the few actually intelligent things Elon did, and convince a ton of people to tie their financial future and wellbeing to Tesla by putting basically their entire portfolio into it, by various means. Couple that with the referral programs telling people they’ll get a free $250k car if they shill hard enough through the referral program, and you have a massive army of people whose finances are heavily intertwined with Tesla
I don’t think they are anymore. There are more options in the market now than there were four years ago, Teslas tend to be expensive for what you get, and the quality of Tesla has been demonstrated to be terrible, time after time. I think that the biggest thing that’s working in Tesla’s favor right now is availability; if other fully electric cars were as available as Teslas are, he’d probably see the bottom fall out of his market completely.
As it is, Dems in general are more likely to be interested in electric vehicles, and he’s actively pissing them off. That’s a very bad business decision, if you want to keep having a company.
if other fully electric cars were as available as Teslas are, he’d probably see the bottom fall out of his market completely.
other fully electric cars are already available and dominating across the entire planet except for the united states and canada and the price tag for a competitive model is around $20k; so i suspect tesla is going to stay king so long as both republicans and democrats continue to support 100% tarrifs on EV’s.
given how we bail out the big american car companies with no-strings-attached handouts every decade and a half or so and we’re about to do it again; it’s a sure bet to assume tesla is safe for a long time.
Discounting the tariffs–which are not an easy issue–American electric vehicles are still in their relative infancy. Tesla has been making electric cars, yes, but they’re bad. Tesla simply doesn’t have the institutional knowledge about car manufacturing and design, so they do things that the auto industry as a whole knows is dumb. Like, electric components than can get shorted out from going to a car wash (!), or electronic door latches that become inoperable if the battery fails because the car has caught on fire (!!!). Right now, non-Chinese/non-Tesla EVs simply don’t have a lot of market presence, but the few that are on the market are selling out (e.g., when the Ford F-150 Lightning was introduced, pre-orders were more than a full year’s production). Software issues seem to be plaguing American EVs, which is… Not surprising, TBH. But IMO, I’d rather have software issues than hardware problems.
Right now, non-Chinese/non-Tesla EVs simply don’t have a lot of market presence,
– in the united states and canada because of those tariffs; they’re dominating everywhere that doesn’t have high tariffs.
They WERE maybe 5 years ago. All good will died with Musk taking over.
Musk has been there since the early days. The company was founded in July 2003. Musk joined as an early (and majority) investor in February 2004. He became CEO in 2008.
5 years ago is about right for when Musk started losing it, but he was at Tesla long before that.
Are they? Maybe something like an S Plaid or a Cybertruck, but the Tesla name is synonymous with those fuckhuge ugly wagon models you see everywhere on the road these days. Even absent of Musk’s connection to the brand, I haven’t seen a Tesla be considered a status symbol in years
Tesla cars have always been tin cans on wheels with QC problems. Now they are tin cans on wheels with QC issues that also double as MAGA hats.
i need & want an EV that can do 90% of what a tesla can do but for 25% the price at $11k; the rest of the world gets them, but not the united states and canada thanks to the 100% tariff on EV’s
By who?
Yeah, like I needed another reason to never buy another Tesla again. Good luck getting Republicans to buy an EV much less a EV that’s technology is no longer cutting edge and the quality is horrible by any standard.
Us regular people cannot comprehend the 4D chess moves of a genius like Musk. Or maybe he just took too many drugs.
This whole thing seems like a sleight of hand to me. I’m pretty sure people are fleeing Tesla because their manufacturing standards are garbage, and their software is faulty. Cybertruck looks like a child’s first truck drawing was the design basis, it doesn’t even do basic truck things, and if you aren’t careful it can decapitate you or at least take off some fingers.
But sure, it’s because Muskrat, emerald mine offspring, finally endorsed Trump that is the determining factor for these people?! Ok, I guess.
Not for me. I genuinely love almost everything about my Model 3 Tesla which I’ve had for years. It’s a pleasure to drive. But I’ll never buy another Tesla because of Musk.
Except Tesla always had shitty manufacturing and faulty software.
The difference accelerated after Elon Musk bought Twitter and revealed himself to be a right-wing asshole. (Some would argue that everyone should have known that Musk was always right-wing, but… the cultural zeitgeist never really noticed until after the Twitter purchase).
The reason to not buy a Tesla is that now they are simply bad cars, and there’s too many good pure electric options to even consider a Tesla nowadays.
Tech wise, a Lucid Air blows a Tesla out of the water.
Driving wise, a Porsche Taycan handles like a Porsche, a Tesla handles like a Camry.
There are way too many other examples to list.
Camry won’t just fall apart though. Someone I know also came out entirely unscathed after decimating both his camry and a semi with loaded double trailer. The thing even still drove and he was able to get it off the road but one wheel was bent up and off the ground. I doubt a Tesla of any generation can do that. From what I remember gen one at least didn’t seem very camry like either. I had this feeling like something was off even though the mad force of accelerating was pretty impressive.
Birds of a child rapists flock together.
Over the Trump endorsement? They hadn’t already fled over gestures broadly
TSLA has sold fewer cars this year despite dropping prices and enticing customers with 0% financing. Not just Q2 (most recent data), but also Q1.
It will be a few weeks before the Trump Endorsement truly is felt, but I’m wondering if Elon has pissed off Democrats enough to the point where they are selling Tesla cars and buying new cars. But Democrats were already clearly no longer buying the car this year.
You mean the 4% drop that happened after the ginormous 27% bump that happened, basically resetting their price to where they were a few months ago? I’m sure musk is hurting real bad. Articles like this just infuriate me.
Tesla stock has never been based on any real metrics or logic. It’ll be interesting to see sales over the next quarter.
Most of the stock market growth is due to things like buybacks.
Tesla’s down overall for the year. I agree its still comically overvalued. But big investment firms and hedge funds are still more than willing to prop it up, seemingly indefinitely. This isn’t liberal democrats fleeing the brand, because liberal democrats aren’t the ones doing all the HFT.
I bet Trump and MAGA love EVs now
Gee… the capitalists liberals have been bending over backwards for all this time is overtly turning towards fascism, you say?
If only someone could have predicted this!
