Back in December 2022, I hypothesized that Elon Musk’s antics and his newfound desire to own the Libs were going to destroy Tesla’s appeal

Alienating Tesla Buyers by the Cybertruck-load

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2024-04-23 03:00:03

Back in December 2022, I hypothesized that Elon Musk’s antics and his newfound desire to own the Libs were going to destroy Tesla’s appeal to many of his most important buyers.

Watching Musk’s ongoing antics, it has become very clear to me that his actions are not only destroying Twitter, but the collateral damage is taking Tesla down with it – a veritable twofer of ineptitude and rake-stepping. […]

My thesis is that in Musk’s newfound desire to own the Libs, he’s alienating the very people who have overwhelmingly been buyers of his EVs.

Consider who the typical Tesla buyer has been over the decade before he began to own the Libs: You would describe them as people who do not think global warming is a hoax; they are early adopters, willing to pay more for an EV versus an ICE car. As good as Tesla’s supercharging network is, it’s nowhere near the infrastructure buildout of gasoline vehicles, it can still be inconvenient on 300+ mile trips; although to be fair, ICE infrastructure has had a century head start. These folks want to leave a better world to their kids; they are realists about the dangers presented by climate change, and they think individuals can make a difference via their personal choices. Oh, and they believe in science.

It is not that this group is exclusively Democrats, but draw a Venn diagram with the folks I described above and Dems, and the overlap is significant.