Overview:
Elon Musk's controversial political actions are prompting some Denver Tesla owners to trade in their vehicles, while others are keeping them.
“It felt like I was driving around with a Nazi flag on the back of my car,” Jeanne Kopeck said. After seven years of owning her Tesla Model X, the long-time Boulder resident decided to sell it earlier this month due to “disgust” with the company’s CEO, Elon Musk.
Musk has come under heavy criticism for his support for far-right politics and what so far has been an unchecked level of influence within the federal government as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He has attacked trans rights, DEI, “woke” politics and drew heavy criticism for doing what many called a Nazi salute at President Donald Trump’s Inauguration.
“In the beginning, we believed he represented good things and was all about doing good things for the environment,” said Kopeck. Her opinion began to shift when “he was becoming a MAGA person and paying for the election to be bought, which I certainly feel like he was largely responsible for. It’s hard to put into words how much I disrespect and dislike him at this point.”
Since its inception on January 20, DOGE and Musk, its de facto leader, have become notorious for slashing key federal programs such as USAID and the National Park Service, enforcing mass layoffs of federal employees and forcibly obtaining sensitive federal employee information.
The fallout from Musk’s public statements, unprecedented and potentially illegal involvement in the Trump Administration and neo-Nazi affiliations has bled into the reputation of Tesla, one of the pioneering companies in the electric vehicle industry. Once seen as a symbol of sleek sustainability and progressive politics, the brand has drawn ire for its association with Musk’s politics.
Tesla stocks have dropped by 30% since Trump took office in January and appointed Musk head of DOGE. While experts have cited a variety of reasons for the so-called “crash,” Musk’s political statements, higher competition in the EV market and lower sales seem to be driving factors.
“We bought the cars for the right reasons, and I feel bad that I know that most people driving Teslas bought them for the right reasons,” Kopeck said. “I’m a little torn right now on whether this is the best form of protest or even a good form of protest, but it just made me feel more personally comfortable.”
Several high-profile celebrities have sold their Teslas in a public condemnation of Musk, and one Denver resident hopes to turn his into a “rolling art piece” with the help of a local graffiti artist. Vandalism of Teslas and Tesla dealerships has spread across the country. Locally, the Loveland Tesla dealership north of Denver has been vandalized three times in the past month. All three Tesla dealerships in the Denver metro area declined to comment for this story.
In response to Musk’s actions, some Tesla owners, like Kopeck, decided to ditch their vehicles, while others, like Denver resident Jane Munden, wanted to sell but faced steep financial consequences for breaking their lease.
“The things that stand out to me are the vociferousness of the owner of the company since I bought the car,” Munden said. “He’s always been a bit of a weirdo, but I think he’s gone off the rails completely.”
Munden bought her Model 3 in the fall of last year and said that she looked into selling it after Musk’s Nazi salute controversy. She said it would have cost her $3000 to get out of her lease, which wasn’t realistic for her financially.
“I didn’t want a perception that I support Elon or the way he’s acting,” Munden said, emphasizing her “distaste at association with the brand.”
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Munden has also considered leaving the country due to the Trump administration’s targeting of queer and trans rights. If that were to happen, or if her financial situation changes, she said she’d reconsider.
“If that happens, I probably will just break the lease and eat the cost,” Munden said.
Another Denver Tesla owner, Chris Nebenzahl, was unbothered by Musk’s association with his vehicle. Nebenzahl initially bought the car for convenience and lower costs long-term and noted that he’s been happy with the car’s performance so far.
“I think at this point, we’re comfortable with our current car situation,” Nebenzahl said. “I don’t really associate my ownership of a Tesla with what he’s doing in the government.”
Although Nebenzahl acknowledged that Musk has taken on a more public role in the Trump administration since purchasing the Model 3 in 2021, he remained vague when discussing Musk’s involvement, saying his opinion would be determined by “things that happen, decisions that he makes, decisions that he is involved with, whether it is in the private or public sector.”
Kopeck and Munden both initially bought their Teslas primarily to reduce their carbon footprint and saw electric vehicles as a more sustainable alternative to traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines. Kopeck noted that many Tesla drivers she knows do not support Musk’s politics and bought their cars for similar reasons, calling the recent trend of vandalizing Teslas on the road “misguided.”
“People didn’t buy their cars to support Elon Musk,” Kopeck said. She wondered why the Tesla company hadn’t yet fired Musk as CEO. “Protesting at a Tesla dealership—maybe that’s okay if it’s preventing people from buying new ones. I think really getting loud to the board of directors and the stockholders, letting their voices be heard in that direction, might be more valid, might be more effective.”
Apart from the public statement itself, the financial effect of selling Tesla vehicles on the corporation and its CEO is still unclear, and most trade-ins end up costing the owners more than the company. Kopeck stated that, while her decision to sell her car was motivated by discomfort with association with Musk rather than a desire to protest, she hoped to exert pressure on Musk and Tesla in other ways.
“We all know that, ultimately, money talks, and they need to feel it in that direction,” Kopeck said. “Not only are we going to protest Tesla and cause them pain by not buying their cars and jumping out of their stocks; if we started to look up other companies that are highly associated with it and say, ‘We’re going to start to not support you either!’ Maybe that would reach into their pockets and maybe that would cause them to dump Musk.”