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.
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.