We asked 41 Tesla drivers what they think of Elon Musk

Teslas hit different now.

Once an uncomplicated status symbol with a climate-conscious edge, the electric vehicles are increasingly perceived as an embodiment of Elon Musk, the company’s CEO and President Donald Trump’s chief hatchet man in dismantling the U.S. government as we know it.

Across the country, protesters are shouting down Tesla showrooms and Cybertrucks. Stickers proclaiming “I bought this before Elon went crazy” are flying off the shelves. A recent poll showed that nearly half of U.S. voters have been dissuaded from buying a Tesla as a result of current events, and the company’s stock price has dropped nearly $100 since Trump took office.

In San Francisco, opinions among Tesla owners vary: There are those who love Musk, those who don’t care about politics, and those who abhor Musk but adore self-driving. 

We pulled up to the city’s most popular Tesla supercharging station, off Geary, and asked 41 drivers what they think. Here’s a breakdown.

Here’s what else they had to say.

Immediately upon taking office last month as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk offered buyouts to every employee in the federal government and has since fired 30,000.

“I am very embarrassed,” said John Newmeyer, an essayist who has had his Tesla for five years. “He’s gone into an area he doesn’t belong in and caused a lot of damage.”

Patrick Levesque has also turned against Musk and says he will not renew his lease when it expires in three months.

“I got the lease two years ago, and I was hesitant then,” Levesque said. “The nail in the coffin was the election cycle meddling before the results were even in.”

“I wouldn’t own a Tesla just because of recent events,” said Isabella Maytorena, a laboratory assistant who often drives her boyfriend’s Tesla. “At the beginning, I was like, ‘Oh, OK, maybe it’ll work out.’ But I spend too much time on TikTok watching theories about what could happen. The way he’s swarming the government is so sketchy and doesn’t give me a good feeling.”

“Every single time I get in, I think about it,” said Heidi Stone, a fitness trainer who got a Tesla lease two months before the election and is thinking about trading in the car. “I knew he was a flawed person. I don’t think I knew how flawed. There’s a level of evil there. People felt like they were doing something good by buying a Tesla. Now you feel like you are participating.”

“Who wants to be associated with a Nazi?” asked Scott Ward, a real estate developer who is considering trading in his Tesla for a non-electric BMW. “It’s ironic, because [Teslas are] still the greatest option for EVs.”

Trader Joe’s worker Siobhan Rodriguez, who named her Tesla “Josephine,” said her parents are thinking about selling the car they gifted her.

“It’s not a horrible idea, because this is not the best look for me,” Rodriguez said, admitting that many in her social circle hates Musk. “I don’t feel safe driving in the city, because people hate him, and I hate him, too.”

In 2018, when designer Charles Albert purchased his Tesla, he saw it as the best performing car he’d ever had. “I thought Elon was — and I still do — one of the most brilliant entrepreneurs of our generation,” he said.

Albert thinks DOGE is a good idea in theory but doesn’t agree with Musk’s tactics. “The way you make something more efficient is not ripping out its parts,” Albert said.

April Janchoi, a tech worker who got a Tesla a month ago, says she didn’t want to support the company but needs self-driving for her 50-mile commute. “He’s horrible,” she said. “Elon only cares about Elon. All he wants to do is go to Mars.”

Healthcare worker Natalie Chernysh, who stood outside her “Tessie” named “Penny,” agreed with many others that they are simply the best cars.

“No other car has full self-driving or the reputation of this car,” she said. “If people are hating on Tesla, that sucks. That’s a statement made outside of the individual. Nothing is black and white.”

Chernysh finds it ironic that people would consider selling their Teslas for gas cars.

“The decision to be electric is pro-environment and has nothing to do with Elon,” Chernysh said.

Many Tesla owners noted the $7,500 federal tax credit that comes with the purchase of a car, along with the company’s superior charging infrastructure, now being adopted by rivals Rivian and Polestar.

Many drivers noted that EVs decline in value so rapidly that it wouldn’t be feasible or meaningful to sell their cars, even if they wanted to.

“I already made a big purchase. Like, I am part of why he is rich,” a driver named Mimi said.

Trevor Klein, who described both Elon and his Tesla as a “piece of shit,” has looked into selling his car but says he would receive around a third of what he bought it for just six months ago. “You don’t get anything for the value of the car,” he said. “The whole company is just pathetic. They’re all frauds basically.”

Matthew Custer, a physician, said he would consider trading in his car if he experienced vandalism but hopes it won’t get to that point. “There’s safety in numbers here [in San Francisco] because there are so many Teslas,” Custer said.

Curt Cassels, an Uber driver, said he experienced hostility for the first time while driving past an anti-Musk protest Wednesday outside the Tesla showroom on Van Ness Avenue.

“There’s such a connection between the two of them,” he said of Tesla and Musk. “I’m disgusted by what he’s doing. I just think of all the people who think they have a career and it is pulled out from under them.”

Cassels said he once announced during a dinner with friends that he would never buy a Tesla. “It’s not even about him,” he said. “It’s about all the people who hate the car. I’m nervous someone is going to do something to the car, but I and the car have nothing to do with it.”

On Valentine’s Day, someone broke into Chase Johns’ Tesla and stole the gift he had bought for his girlfriend. Johns, a creative director, fears there will be harassment of Tesla drivers.

“People looking to break into cars — that’s not the answer,” Johns said. “It’s the direction we are going in. I don’t want to be seen as a Nazi supporter. I don’t have those beliefs. It’s unfortunate.”

While Johns dislikes Musk, he doesn’t feel that’s a good reason to give up his car. “There’d be little to no things we could own if we go on our beliefs alone,” he said.

“I’m not thinking about all the stuff that goes on with him,” said Demerius Durham, who bought his car in January. “It’s a safer car to have.”

When asked about people selling their Teslas because of Musk’s partnership with Trump, Durham said it “was pretty mind-blowing.”

“If I hate a person, I am not going to hate their work. You can be a very shitty person for all I care, but if your work is great, it’s cool.”

Bryan Mejia, a self-described fan of Musk, agreed.

“I think you’re supporting him by buying Tesla, but that goes with everything,” Mejia said. “Either it’s Elon or somebody else. I’m going to buy whatever I want. It’s just a product, at the end of the day.”

“It seems like he stands for something different than when all of this first started,” said Cameron Noland, a chemist who thinks Musk is a “sociopath.” Despite this, Noland said he’s sticking with his Tesla because he considers other car brands like Ford “just as evil.”

“I feel like he bought the election basically,” Tesla driver Wesley Choi said. “Everyone was laughing at Elon. Now it is revealed that Twitter is a propaganda mouthpiece.”

While Choi feels embarrassed driving his Tesla, he sees his car simply as “a tool to get from point A to point B.”

“Politics doesn’t matter as much as build quality,” he said.

While entrepreneur Julian Goduci used to be indifferent to Musk, he has taken a liking to him ever since he bought Twitter and “made it available for people to talk without being censored.”

And now that Musk is in charge of DOGE and is rearranging the government, Goduci, who flew to Washington for Trump’s second inauguration, is ecstatic.

“It’s like Christmas morning every morning,” he said. “He can do everything. He knows how to delegate power to the right people for the job. No waste, no drama. People should be happy. He’s our Einstein. He’s our Edison.”

When told that other Tesla drivers are considering selling their cars as a result of recent events, Goduci shook his head. “Fuck that, it’s a bunch of bullshit,” he said.

When asked whether he is scared about vandalism as a result of owning his car, he sent out a warning. “I want to see who has the balls to come and slash my car,” he said. “They’ll see another side of me.”

Then there are those who just don’t care.

“At the end of the day, it’s just a hellhole,” said Azja Walker, a mom who sat in her Tesla with her children watching TV on the center console. “We’re fucked regardless.”

“He says things that are inappropriate sometimes,” said Sal Sanchez, who was also with his family. “But then again I have also — so who am I to have an opinion?”