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OWNING A TESLA has always been a sign that a driver likely supports the cause of protecting the environment, but recently that T on the boots and bonnets of the world’s most recognisable electric cars has come to symbolise something quite different.
Since Elon Musk began publicly backing President Donald Trump, as well as other far-right political candidates and causes around the world, people have taken aim at the main source of the unelected billionaire’s wealth by holding ‘Tesla Takedown’ protests across the United States.
There have also been numerous incidents where dealerships, charging stations and vehicles have been vandalised, often with swastikas or other references to the salute Musk gave during an inauguration event in Washington, which Jewish groups in the US condemned as fascist. There have also been multiple cases of arson.
“This is domestic terrorism. Those responsible will be pursued, caught, and brought to justice,” FBI Director Kash Patel said yesterday.
A protest is set to take place outside a Tesla dealership in Dublin this weekend.
Similar incidents of vandalism have been reported in Europe, including in Belfast, and some Irish Tesla drivers are now feeling more than a hint of buyer’s remorse, as they told The Journal.
“We’re supposed to have been the motorists doing the right thing for the environment but now, we’re the guys who are somehow linked with all the negative things that Musk is doing,” said one Irish Tesla driver who wished to remain anonymous.
“I have to admit, since January, I’ve had a few dirty looks from other motorists when sitting in traffic and it’s starting to feel like I’m driving this kind of toxic brand.”
He said he has taken “some light slagging” from his friends and family, who have been asking him if he’s going to sell his car or put a sticker over the Tesla badge.
Other Tesla drivers described similar feelings of embarrassment.
“I have noticed lately people looking at me and my car more while I’m stopped in traffic,” said Brian from Cork, who was shown the middle finger by a pedestrian recently.
“I haven’t told anybody who physically hasn’t seen me in it due to the negative publicity,” said Conor from Meath.
“There used to be a joke: ‘How do you know someone has an iPhone? They’ll tell you!!’
“It’s nearly a situation now that ‘How do you know someone drives a Tesla? They WON’T tell you!!’”
One Tesla owner living in Canada, where the impacts of the Trump administration have already led to wide scale public anger and resentment, said he has covered the logos with a maple leaf on the front and a shamrock on the rear of his car.
“I love the car,” he said. “Best car I’ve ever owned.”
But he also said: “I absolutely hate what it represents.”
“I hope nobody attacks my car, but with Elon and the orange man baby attacking Canada, and much of the Western world, I won’t be surprised, and yes I have double-checked my insurance coverage!”
A Tesla owner in Dublin, who wished to remain anonymous, said he is “constantly concerned that it will be targeted”.
“I don’t like Elon, or Trump – in fact I disagree with most all of their rhetoric,” they said.
“I wish people would consider that many of the owners bought or booked their cars before Elon went bonkers. They don’t necessarily reflect the driver’s political views!”
The Kildare-based driver also said he would be open to selling the car but admits it is unlikely to fetch a great price on the second-hand market, a concern shared by a number of Tesla drivers who spoke to The Journal.
“So I’m stuck with it for now and will need to keep it for a few years to make it work financially, but it might be time for some sort of ‘I don’t support Elon’ bumper sticker,” he said.
“Or else, maybe Elon will sell or be removed from the company and we’ll be able to sleep easy again.”
The idea that Musk could be turfed out as CEO would have seemed almost unthinkable not so long ago, but one major investor called for exactly that last week at the same time as board members, including Musk’s brother Kimbal, offloaded more than $100m in shares collectively.
Gareth in Canada has also looked into selling his Tesla, which cost him 85,000 Canadian dollars, but it’s not financially viable to do so.
“I can’t get any more than $22k for the car, with 118k kilometres. I still owe $20k on the car, and the fact that it still drives like the week I got it, means I cannot sell it for a loss.”
Not everyone shares the same concerns about the company’s reputation though.
Eddie in Meath said he’s been driving electric vehicles since 2017 and that the Tesla has been the most efficient so far.
“To date, I haven’t got anything negative for being in a Tesla, other than a bit of banter from a friend,” he said.
He also wondered if some of Musk’s actions in government and the public reaction has been overblown.
He said he only knows the names of CEOs at a few companies from which he’s bought products, Tesla being one of them.
But when he looked into the management of car companies he’s bought from before, like Renault and Volkswagen, he found some “serious allegations”. (Renault’s former CEO and chairman Carlos Ghosn is a fugitive wanted by Interpol over allegations of financial crime, for example.)
Eddie also owned a Volkswagen when the Germany carmaker was found to have cheated on emissions tests in 2015.
“That’s the only time I moved away from a brand,” he said of the emissions scandal.
“But I’m happy for now still owning a Tesla,” he said, adding that he would probably buy another next time, as long as there isn’t a better deal out there.
“With Elon and Trump being in the news every day and clickbait being 90% of it, I am becoming blind to it more and more. I don’t know what’s true and what’s not. A large part seems more manufactured, but who knows?”
The Trump adjacent Nazi salute guy, who retweeted “Hitler didn’t murder millions of people. Public sector employees did.” (since deleted) shouldn’t be surprised that his brand his now muck.
@honey badger: The Journal really sent the team on this one. Investigative journalism of the highest order. ‘Brian’ from Cork and ‘Conor’ from Meath prove how low Tesla has fallen in the in the eyes of Irish consumers. I bet Elon is thankful that Nazi
‘Eddie’ from in Kildare is standing by him.
I guess Tesla will still be OK in China with their 300 thousand annual sales. ‘Gareth’ in Canada is still on board, too, plus he has cornered the car sales in the Nazi market.
@Pól Pot: Tesla exports to china is down by around 50% this year to date. Chinese brands of EVs have gained massively on them. So I am not sure they will be ok with their exports to china. They are having an awful year to date Tesla are.
@Pól Pot: Tommy in Tyrone is traveling timidly in his Tesla through the traffic .
@Eoin Jackson: Sit down d0pe. Tesla cars are manufactured in China. When you are sure of something, start again.
@Pól Pot: Why call Trump by his surname and the other pric by his given name. He isn’t youd friend.
@Pól Pot: Why are you so triggered??
@Iano C: The pot calling the kettle black. It is you and the other commentators who are triggered. Me, I’m a rationalist.
Why are you using two question marks?!
@Pól Pot: A rationalist…lol You don’t sound very rational. You sound hysterical and not the funny kind.
@Iano C: Then why are you laughing out loud? I’m calm and using factual information to come to my conclusions. Your opinions come in a package from whatever team you’ve identified with. An uneducated sheep.
@Eoin Jackson: BYD are taking over the market, the Chinese seem to have done a good job with them, Donnie will be raging.
Tesla’s performance under Musk shows how a leader’s behaviour can dramatically influence a brand.
Tesla used disruptive innovation to make the best electric car in the world. Musk undone all of this in a couple of years through his behavour and lack of recent innovation, and actually rolling back much of their early innovation and USPs.
Tesla’s heavy reliance on Musk’s personal brand and rapid downfall will no doubt become a case study and further evidence proving that no company should center their identity around one high-profile figure.
@Bat Boy: 100% right
@Bat Boy: True, the thing is that, like it or not, Tesla has done much for green energy, they inspire the wave of Chinese vehicles and set the benchmark in western brands, the other brands were just playing catch up, when it came to electric vehicles. It’s a catch-22 situation because, indeed, we need to walk away from fossil fuels. I don’t necessarily want to take the bus; people should have the freedom to own their cars if they want to, and electric cars are part of a broader solution. Tesla made a positive contribution, as a brand.
@J Ven: Other brands are available until or when musk is offloaded
@J Ven:
Tesla’s innovation decline began with the early Model S around 2015. The P85 had an exceptional autopilot system, arguably the best in the world at the time. It was predictable and reliable. When the original system provider refused to roll out the next version due to insufficient data, Musk chose to bring autopilot development in-house. It is arguable that those earlier Teslas still have a safer and more consistent system than what’s available in newer models today.
I live in Switzerland, where Tesla’s charging infrastructure is outstanding-both here and across neighboring countries. It’s one of the company’s strongest assets. Disbanding the Supercharger team was a baffling move that weakens one of Tesla’s biggest advantages.
My wife drives a Model 3 and loves a lot about the car. She decided to put it up for sale 2 weeks ago and has had no interest (this would not have been the case 2 years ago). She’s concerned about continued depreciation, doesn’t want to be associated with the brand anymore, and does not use the autopilot because it has a habit of being erratic. My Audi has a much better system. BYD have just set up a flagship store in the middle of Zurich right next to Tesla, I imagine they could wipe Tesla off the map.
@Bat Boy: The original Electric Car creator, Tesla himself, did not deserve the ruin imposed on him by the American State and Petroleum industry.
Elon, *DOES* deserve ruin.
The egregiously commandeered name, “Tesla”, does NOT deserve ruination yet again.
Yet one can only assume Tesla’s name has been frikken trademarked in every jurisdiction all over the world by now.
Elon musk is a hero of our time.
@Fynn: I see your last 2 brain cells are not capable of communicating common sense again
@Robert Halvey: clearly you have zero brain cells left and can’t think for yourself. Keep reading the journal and rte news
It’s hilarious. They are forced to drive a car made by someone who isn’t woke
@common sense: “woke” is a thought-terminating cliche used by those who are either wilfully blind to the behaviour of people like Musk or are trying to cowardly make excuses for it.
@common sense: what does “woke” mean?
@Name: and who don’t know what ‘woke’ really means. Same with ‘leftists’ and ‘commies’ for everybody who has a different opinion.
@Franno: narcissistic virtue.Someone who thinks anyone that disagrees with them on any single topic is a bigot. Someone that considers themselves better than everyone around them.Someone that is obsessed with trying to appear more virtuous than all those around them.Someone that thinks men can get pregnant and women have a pe nis.Someone that would let a 5 year old boy pretend to be a 5 year old girl,to appear more virtuous.Someone that thinks it they existed hundreds of years ago they would somehow have been more virtuous than all others around them.
That’s woke.
@Franno: Recently it’s being used as an attempted slur against people who despise nazi supporters and adjudicated sex offenders.
@Johnny King: so just to summarise, 1 narcissistic virtue, of which I’ve seen much more on the right wing commenters; and 2 transphobia. Got it.
@Franno: no you obviously don’t get it.A trans man can have a vagina but not an actual man.A trans woman can have a pen is but not an actual woman.The language is important here.I said man or woman in my comment.You pretty much proved my point by calling a literal fact transphobic.You’re literally doing what I said woke people do in my comment.Calling anyone that disagrees with you a bigot.Stating a literal fact is now transphobic now? So reality itself is transphobic?? Thanks for proving my point for me with your woke reply.
@Johnny King: still have no idea what “woke” means from either of your replies other than just a big bag of random stuff you happen to dislike
@Franno: well if you still “have no idea” what woke means I suppose you’re beyond help then.If someone can’t comprehend logic then there’s no logic you can use to make them understand.You’re probably too far gone.Don’t reply.I won’t waste any more time on you.
@Johnny King: jog on transphobic clown
@common sense: Always better to be woke that asleep.
Hang on, the same Jewish groups that fund and cheerlead for Israel are ‘decrying fascism’? You couldn’t make it up, what a clownworld were living in!
@Jonn: Your reminder Musk recently retweeted this: “Hitler didn’t murder millions of people. Public sector employees did.” Why on earth would “Jewish groups” support an odious clown who amplifies the worst conspiracies and far right tropes that target Jewish people.
@honey badger:
Exactly what ‘Jewish people are being ‘targeted’,pray tell? If you want to know about being ‘targeted’ go ask the Palestinians carrying the remains of their children through the rubble of what was once their homes,now that’s being ‘targeted’! Given the choice between that or being spat at in a restaurant or some guy waving his arm I know which I’d choose!
@Jonn: I’m sure Palestinians appreciate being used as a mudflap for Musk and the reputation of Tesla.
@Jonn: On the plus side they will be able to play golf there soon.
@Jonn: John you should read up on the Jewish Betar Movment if you haven’t already done so, a right nasty shower of far right facists, I personally have no time whatsoever for Musk but it’s a bit rich for Jewish groups in the U.S. calling him a facists when they have their own in the likes of Betar and not to mention the ultra right wingers in the Israel government.
@Leonard Barry:
If you want to look for a modern fascist,sectarian state look no further than Israel,it ticks all the boxes!
@Jonn: No “Jewish groups” fund and cheerlead for IsraHell.
Please do not conflate the International Jewry with the *Fascistic Zionism* that exploits them and their past.
Could the Trump-ettes on here please share their thoughts on ol’ laminated face, Elmo? Keen to hear how they feel about Trump’s main oligarch and the job he done so far…don’t hold back!
@Iano C: Absolutely amazing news
Protesting a car brand.. Jesus wept. The country is a cess pit, cost of living through the roof, filthy cities and unsafe, over zealous nutters in government, and the looney left are protesting a car brand. If one were to go back 10 tears and show this to one’s self you would take the first chance to get out of here. I’m so glad I did.
@Phose: So is the rest of the counrty! Good riddance to bad rubbish.
The Tesla cars are only a side show for Musk at this stage. He is focused on a guaranteed ,indefinite technical and financial assistance to send humans to the Mars , recover and replace satellites etc
He is a modern Hugo Drax
@Dr Albert S Meinheimer: Then he should step aside and let someone who wants to run the company do so.
@Bat Boy: huge egos never step aside or down
@Dr Albert S Meinheimer: I think that going to Mars is but a dream. The journey takes 8 to 9 months, that alone is prohibitive. You’d want an amazing Spotify playlist!!
@Tom Mahon: well you should ring somebody & let them know you have figured it out so
@Dr Albert S Meinheimer: Wasn’t Drax the villain….
Talk about first world problems listening to these conflicted Tesla owners. We all know EVs are for men with less testosterone
@Lewis Armstrong: many’s the time I have left ICEs in the absolute dust in my EV from the lights.
Irish Tesla drivers aren’t a political statement—they’re just ordinary folks who like torque and touchscreen dashboards. My brother’s living proof. He’s on his second Tesla. Granted, he does yoga to country music, owns a composting toilet, wears driving gloves, and has strong opinions on curtain fabrics. My point is: the car is the least quirky thing about him. At this stage, he’s just collecting stereotypes in Wicklow like charging points.
@Darragh F: lol Is currently on his way to or from an ice bath?!
@Darragh F: Is he in a Village People tribute band?
How about the journal do an investigative piece on the waste and corruption in our own government starting with the OPW.
@David Owens: in case you haven’t noticed by the number of comments per article, Irish folk care more about trump/musk articles than what happens on their own shore. Quite sad
Did musk not know that it would all go to sh/te by supporting the clown. The was he’s carrying on leading up to & since the man baby got in you have to say there nothing between his lugs. In short he’s been a total embarrassment to himself.
@David Glynn: Hard to have foresight like that when you are microdosing all day.
@David Glynn:
The ‘man baby’ as you call him is one of the richest and most famous people in the world,and spends his spare time hanging round the Oval Office when not in his Bond Villain secret lair! What do you do?
@Jonn: A category 5 Musk fanboy. Rare these parts!
@Jonn: He is rich on paper. No one knows if he is personally liable for Twitter debt or if he is looking at margin calls on other debt if Tesla share price continues to drop. Possible he might become the biggest failure of all time.
What a load of nonsense have a Tesla car in the household and drive them with Maga pride.
@Rian O’Sullivan: It’s not America. No one gives a toss about why you bought your Tesla
@Mick Duvanny: Its the point of the whole article do try and keep up kid.
@Rian O’Sullivan: we already knew you are a MAGA head. Thanks for verifying the stereotype.
@Mick Duvanny: Why an article about soy boys who are crying now that they did?
@Franno: MAGA rules the world come April 2nd we will rule Europe as well.
@Rian O’Sullivan:
They better start ruling their own country first.
America has lost all credibility,and is going down the tubes very fast.
@Rian O’Sullivan: so much for president of peace. It’s totalitarianism all the way down with you lot.
Did tesla pay for this article?
Does Tesla even matter much to Musk, now he has been able to acquire confidential info on US citizens & his corporate rivals and get his business activities fully supported by the US government (and not just massive government grants as previously)? Tesla’s stock was already in serious decline in 2024. Musk is a fraud. He bought out existing companies that were primed to receive massive government subsidies because of their roles in key/green industries. Tesla cars are over-priced and inferior to rivals in construction and features. The glue that held his cars and business together isn’t holding up.
oh no please dont touch my tesla we are with you….tell you one thing anyone come near my tesla will be getting the one two uni flu
Still we can get Ch1nese govt. Subsidised BYD cars where human rights of ch1nese workers are violated every day here now so who cares huh?
Before you say “Tesla” backwards make sure everyone’s is ready .
All set ?
@larry smith: you can power the whole house for a week from the Tesla they are unbelievable machines. A big silly fuss
@Buster Lawless: imagine all the resources extracted from our beautiful planet to produce something so powerful! And the resulting huge carbon footprint! Not so wonderful when one digs a little beyond the surface.
@Jack: any ICE car uses orders of magnitudes more carbon resources
@Jack: Total environmental cost there is rarely mentioned regarding EV’s. They can claim zero emissions and be correct regarding being on the road, but there a lot mining for the materials that is far from green. The same for a lot of turning those materials into the finished product.
@ben wu: Yes agreed and total environmental cost of an EV is proven to be way less than ICE cars. But you know that already.
@Rian O’Sullivan: I’m not sure that that is a fully proven claim, but as the technology evolves I’m sure it gets closer.
The original Prius was more harmful to the environment than a similar sized ICE at that time, but things have moved on.
@Daniel Wilson: Look into how lithium is mined. Look into how toxic old batteries are. Add to that the oil-based products used to produce the EVs, and you will see that they are no better if not slightly worse than ICE. In some areas water has been used to wash the lithium and is completely unusable for thousands of years as a result. Ecosystems are destroyed to mine it. Not to say fossil fuels are better, but lithium is just as bad. EV pushing is just a cult to give smug idiots a faux sense of superiority. It may be better to run an EV in a city, but the environmental cost is severe in other locations. Guess if you can’t see it, it’s all okay. I also agree electric motors are superior in performance to ICE, but the fueling method is not better. There is already a better alternative, and it’s called hydrogen, but the people have been indoctrinated into believing that batteries represent the future, boosting the market and increasing the value of rare lithium, & enriching investors of this technology.
@Mike Carson: Not disagreeing, since you seem to be on the same page as me..but regarding hydrogen, would have to look at the current ways it’s separated and the amount of energy that’s involved in that process. Yes it’s cleaner if only consider the time the car is on the road, but there’s a lot more to some gestalt about the story.
@ben wu: Its factual and proven over the lifespan an EV is way better for the environment. As you say things have moved on a lot since a Prius. Tesla and BYD even offer colbolt free batteries nowadays
Imagine feeling so fearful, that you have to explain your choice of car to those who hate free speech, and accountability.
I drive a passat should I tell the world I don’t support Hitler? When did personal opinions on who makes your cars become a thing, nonsense.
All the info these people get on trump and musk comes from MSM, a guy who has nearly 400 billion accused of stealing and being a nazi who has thousands of employees of all skin colours and cultures, trying to save tax payers money from being wasted. We give out about all the waste our government does with our taxes plus the clown show in the dail on Tuesday. My opinion on musk and trump was watching them in a 3 hour interview with Joe Rogan the biggest pod caster in the world. It’s only a loud minority causing all this fuss.
@brendan C5: “My opinion on musk (sic) and trump (sic) was watching them in a 3 hour interview with Joe Rogan…” Jesus wept.
@brendan C5: Yeah, there’s no way that Musk and Trump could possibly manipulate or lie to the most softball interviewer on the planet! Biggest must mean best, for sure. Rogan simps so hard for Musk it’s embarrassing.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: it’s called educating yourself try it sometime instead of listening to the mainstream media lies
Tesla owners absolutely bought into brand Elon and with each of his success the brand expanded. It’s just a pity he is gone all MAGA, they couldn’t have foeseen that but you have to live with the toxic brand now.
Go unwoke, go broke.
Teslas are rather ordinary EVs now, cheaper, much better, higher quality and safer makes on the market. Anyone who bought one after late last year either is deeply ignorant about EVs or is making a statement they are a MAGA-head.
@Franno: Well they have the best vehicle tech, battery tech, best motors, best automony and best performance so please tell us all what EV’s are better?
@Rian O’Sullivan: most of that is purely subjective but there are much cheaper and much safer EVs on the market, objectively. Anyway, stop distracting from the main point that anyone who bought a Tesla after late last year is making a statement about their MAGA-ness.
To be fair, to brand Tesla owners as Trump/Musk lovers is ludicrous. Are Volkswagen drivers to be considered closet Nazis or Ford buyers, racist bigots? Dig into the past of most iconic brands, you’ll probably find something unsavoury.
@Harry Callahan: to be fair this is happening right now and we can influence opinion now, we can’t change what happened a hundred years ago. But you know that.
Those driving Teslas are gimps. The state of them to look at and then the price of them. Only a fool would drive a Tesla.
@Andrew Kenny: Ah Andy keep saving your dole and you can buy one.
@Rian O’Sullivan: My 4 year old VW will still be around long after a new Tesla rolls out of a car showroom today. “If work was in the bed, you’d sleep on the floor!”
@Andrew Kenny: Ah Andy wrong again come on kid try harder.
Here comes incelboi living in mammy’s boxroom to tell us he loves his cybertruck and how the stock he bought 5 years ago is up 789%. Doesn’t even have a PPSN.
@Luas Vuitton – Penneys Drag Queen: Cybercucks the lot of them!
Interesting to see Christopher Tsai in the media laying the ground work for a shareholder revolt, they’re wondering when he’s coming back to work, Elon is not the owner of Tesla, it’s a public company, he holds 13% of the shares (currently the majority). Shareholders must be nervous where their recent losses are concerned.
Go away Musk , go away Trump .. take your cars with you .
@K H: Go away K H
This is hilarious to read. Pure lies from start to finish. Here’s a few basic facts. If you invested in Tesla 5 years ago you would have a 700% profit today, fact. If you invested your money 3 weeks ago at the bottom of the crash you would have a 21% profit today and still rising each day.
I will give the journal some credit though, they appear to acknowledge the existence of far left extremist groups in Ireland capable of violence against innocent car owners. This is probably the only truth in the article. The idea that Tesla isn’t successful and that the stock price is crashing when in reality it’s rising is not journalism, it’s just lies pure and simple.
The far left are in free fall. Roll on April 2nd. We have been waiting a long time for the death of WOKE. Get the champers ready!
Don’t be a fascist enabler. If you own one, sell your Tesla now.
@Ed Ruttledge: Dont be a silly child.
@Ed Ruttledge: Money talks… and is listened to deeply by the over expensed Irish (rightfully so)
I saw a guy riding around wearing a MAGA cap in Dublin a few days ago, was taken aback to say the least :-)
The stock is back again on fire! …… there is a punch line to that joke but I forgot
Tesla.
The badge of dishonour.
Why anyone would be happy driving it beats me.
@Mary.E.: Because they are amazing.
The people who love “ climate change” now hate the make of an electric cars and burn the cars which have lithium batteries that massively pollute the air. Hard to comprehend that level of stupidity
Pure rubbish .
Don’t support, but promote.
So….
Alternative facts to a badly researched article,what a press …
The Carbon Credit market is about to implode,this will wipe out Tesla.Tesla’s profits are only possible with the sale of Carbon Credits.Without this income (based on a global mafia deal to save the climate) they would make losses year after year:
These Carbon Credits not only do nothing to keep the carbon in the ground.Tesla might have to pay back to the car owners what will now be added to the vehicle tax,the real emissions:
https://carboncredits.com/teslas-avoided-emissions-are-up-to-49-overstated-a-study-claims/
(under “The Billion-Dollar Carbon Credit Question”)
One look into the search engine and the author would not have relied on paste and copy.But recherche must be paid for,dear Journal.
@Juri Hertel: up 27% in the last 5 days, you don’t think the big hedge funds factor this in to the share price?
@Juri Hertel: Tesla is a tech company dressed up in transport.
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