Ever since the Felon’s inauguration and the start of DOGE’s dismantling of the government, consumers have been rejecting the Tesla brand. Car sales have dropped sharply, as have the prices of used Tesla cars. Stock prices have also fallen, and many believe there is further room for decline, considering Tesla overvalued. Protests are taking place at Tesla showrooms everywhere. The situation became so dire that even the White House lawn was used as a Tesla showroom.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that there’s consumer rejection. Tesla’s primary customer base consists of middle to upper-class individuals who are environmentally conscious and willing to take the risk of buying and owning an electric car. Elon Musk essentially alienated them by pursuing radical right-wing, white supremacist causes, which are contrary to Tesla’s well-educated customer base.

At no point in U.S. history has someone unelected and unconfirmed held so much influence at the highest level of government. Rulers in other authoritarian regimes, such as Russia and China, typically keep power exclusively to themselves, requiring the rest of the oligarchs to submit to their rules. It requires narcissism from the Felon to grant such power and from Musk to assert himself in exchange for his monetary donations. This is coupled with the Felon’s disinterest in actual governance and distrust of experienced individuals, even within the Republican Party.

There has been a call from Tesla shareholders for Elon Musk to step down due to an obvious conflict of interest, but this is unlikely due to his narcissism. Musk believes he’s smarter than anyone and wants to bring Silicon Valley’s startup culture to government. Those mass firings at federal agencies were no different from what he did after buying Twitter. However, these mass firings have made him unpopular. Losing a job can be life-altering, as many people live paycheck to paycheck to cover food and housing costs. Job loss often leads to anxiety and uncertainty, with overwhelming pressure to find new work. He doesn’t seem to understand this; he believed he was doing good by trying to reduce the federal budget to prevent an imaginary bankruptcy of the federal government. Of course, there’s the Nazi salute and his peculiar ideas about race, reproduction, and going to Mars.

For those who desire EVs, there are now more choices from different manufacturers, offering ranges and amenities competitive with Tesla. Even with a change in CEOs, I doubt the old customer base will return. Musk remains a significant shareholder, and more value in Tesla means more wealth for him and his ability to cause damage.

Despite the current issues with Elon Musk, we should acknowledge that Tesla has made a positive contribution by developing EVs that function like ICE cars. The brand strongly identifies with zero-emission, fully electric vehicles, similar to how people associate the Toyota Prius with hybrid vehicles. About 20 years ago, when vehicle battery technology was insufficient for a usable range, the Prius was seen as a superior environmental alternative.

The best case for the company and the environment is for MAGAs to embrace Tesla cars. For a long time, due to ideological and practical reasons, the right wing has had no interest in EVs. Musk is better positioned to market EVs to them than anyone else. If the right-wing population embraces Tesla cars, it could boost the expansion of charging infrastructure and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, proving that anti-EV talk is merely rhetoric and part of a culture war. If Tesla fails because the right wing doesn’t embrace his EVs, so be it.

The Felon and his fossil fuel allies may want the ICE culture to continue indefinitely, but the reality is that investment and development are shifting towards EVs. For quite sometime, China has been investing in EVs, PEVs (e-scooters, e-bikes, electric unicycles), and electric transit vehicles, knowing it can’t catch up with Japan, the US, and Europe on ICE automobiles. Also, other countries still aim for all cars to be zero-emission in the future. Even if the Felon decides to issue executive orders to promote ICE cars today, attempting to turn back the clocks, a post-Felon administration may adopt the goal of zero emissions a few years later. Because auto manufacturers have longer product development timelines than his political career, they can’t afford to play games with a dying ICE technology.

In tech culture, even brands that were once pioneers and commanded a large market share can easily diminish. Remember Netscape, MySpace, and AOL? These companies were once household names, dominating discussions about the internet and social media. Yet, as quickly as they rose to prominence, they faded into obscurity. Tesla faces the same risk when new competitors emerge, whether from new dedicated electric car brands or existing automakers. Musk’s actions to destroy the US government only push his customer base toward other brands.