Yep. I am a current Tesla Model 3 owner, really like my car, but plan to switch to another brand after running this one into the ground. Elon's behavior is awful and dangerous given his fame/money, and luckily, unlike in 2017, there are now other good EV options which are getting better all the time.

I recently saw a Tesla that had a “No Elon” magnet on the back. (Red circle over white background, with a diagonal red line through the word “ELON.”)

I talked to the owner who said that his wife had custom ordered it.

How is the charging situation? I remember that everyone announced NACS and compatibility with the Tesla network a while ago, has that happened or is it still just promises?

Technically still just promises, but the timelines are all in the 1-3 year range, which seems about right for a manufacturing and support line change. I think Hyundai/Kia plan to start shipping native NACS cars this year.

It's in progress, I think. Ford and Rivian just gained access to the network about a month or so ago, and I think that other manufacturers will be added over the next year or two.

> after running this one into the ground

Oh, come on. Don't wait another 25 years! /s

This seems to be the case for some online communities, but in my offline circles (Asians working in tech in the PNW) no one seems to care. Driving on the street it seems every other car is a Tesla, and by and large everyone is pretty happy with them. I wouldn't say we're particularly pro-Tesla either, it's just that they were the best cars for the money at the time.

As more car manufacturers start to deliver good EVs, I think you'll start to see more variety in the EVs on the road. For example my next car after the cybertruck could be a Rivian or an electric van, if someone finally decides to make one.

Same here in Frisco, Texas. Teslas are so common here and pretty much it is always Asians driving them. I keep hearing that Tesla is the new Toyota.

But talking with some of the Tesla owners, many feel embarrassed by Elon. Many say that they will not buy another Tesla or they have some other reasoning to justify their purchase (like Elon has gone crazy but we shouldn't punish the entire company for it etc)

Forget the content of what Musk says, the fact that he's on Twitter so much seems like a bad sign if you're a Tesla shareholder. His attention is already split between 3-4 companies, if he's tweeting all day on top of that how much attention is Tesla and its problems/opportunities getting?

A business who had an assistant manager who spent this much time on Twitter during business hours would've written a pink slip a long time ago. Investors/BODs are shockingly forgiving. How is he creating value when he's spending half his time being a keyboard culture warrior?

> how much attention is Tesla and its problems/opportunities getting

Judging by the fragmented and meandering Highland/Juniper roll-out, none.

The company seems to be running on autopilot (or should I say, full self-driving), where local management is making local decisions out of sync with the rest of the company to try and save another quarter. Which is clearly not working anymore.

While Musk’s attention was certainly a key asset in Tesla’s early years, I’m not sure that his attention is still a net positive.

For me it's this + going overboard on minimalism (speed only on center screen, turn signals now buttons, wiper controls on touch screen). It's a shame because there's a lot to like about the model 3.

I tried buttons on a 2 minute drive and it's instantly obvious it's better.

I cannot own a car with unreliable wiper controls. It rains to much where I live. Without a stalk I would definitely go crazy.

Personally I’d never buy one for that reason. Would never work for one of his companies either. I don’t want to contribute to his wealth.

It's such a shame that he's sullying his reputation like this. Howard Hughes-like.

He could have retired in a blaze of glory a couple of years ago, straight into the pantheon of epic American entrepreneurs.

His behavior isn't the only Howard Hughes callback. The entire Cybertruck project screams it.

I didn't think about the parallel to the Spruce Goose, but it's a fair comparison. Honestly, it seems to happen to a lot of megalomaniac, ivory-tower type creators - the urge to build something to top their last creation (and for all his faults, Elon does have some really impressive creations behind him). The other example that jumps to mind is George Lucas with the Star Wars prequels.

The Star Wars prequels are not comparable to the Spruce Goose. The Star Wars prequels did exactly what they intended to do: sell toys so George could maintain the independence of Lucasfilm.

The fact those movies are terrible is irrelevant.

> The other example that jumps to mind is George Lucas with the Star Wars prequels.

These were by far not as bad as some people tend to paint them, the problem with the Star Wars prequels IMHO was more that the "old guard" fanbase tends to be quite the whiny bunch.

The sequels are another topic entirely - these were corporate driven projects which isn't a bad sign per se (see the MCU), but unlike the MCU there wasn't a central person like Kevin Feige who actually took care about a cohesive storyline, directors and script writers kept changing, and the SW universe unlike Star Trek or MCU doesn't have a concept of multiple/alternate realities or time travel so a ton of lore went down the drain for nothing.

They’re just stories. A future Disney could declare 7-9 non-canon and redo the lore.

Apparently Henry Ford bought a newspaper (the Dearborn Independent) to publish his opinions on jews. History sure does rhyme. What is it with car CEOs?

If it rhymes this much, it's bad news for Musk but fantastic for Tesla. Ford has generated a ridiculous amount of shareholder returns over the years and makes good cars today.

And Ford was hardly alone collaborating with Nazis:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39888684

South African entrepreneurs?

EDIT: I had heard he was South African. Googled it though: "South African-born American businessman" so I guess he is American now. Thanks.

He's a US citizen, he lives in the US, and his companies are headquartered in the US. "American" is definitely an appropriate label here.

You seem not American.

To Americans, being born to a different nationality doesn't preclude you from being considered a full and true American. First generation immigrants and naturalized citizens tend to be completely accepted as equals by natural born citizens, so long as they are productive and not criminally destructive.

I do understand that this tends to not be the case in many other countries, where even second generation immigrants may not be fully accepted because ethnic identity is so deeply entwined in nationality in most countries.

You would have to admit that passing the "looks white to me" test helps a lot in being culturally accepted as an American. You don't have to go very far to find counter examples. Even in this comment section people talk about "Asians" driving Tesla's - regardless of the fact they maybe second or third generation Americans.

The way you put it, it would seem odd to me to mention someone's ethnicity unless it was somehow relevant to the conversation.

Without context though my generous assumption is that when they say "Asian driving a Tesla" they mean "Asian-American driving a Tesla" and are lazy rather than racist.

I don't think they were being racist for what it's worth.

Putting it another way, if Elon Musk was born in South Africa and happened to be black, I doubt he'd so easily be given a pass as an American. Every article would start "South-african born entrepreneur Elon Musk..."

Very unlikely, Bezos & Gates basically did that and they are still massive targets of criticism.

If Elon had decided to just roll over a couple years ago and do everything the media asked him to do (shutdown the Fremont factory during covid, stop "polluting the sky" with starlink, rely on a nice unionized automaker like GM to "lead the EV revolution") Tesla & SpaceX wouldn't exist today.

None of that shit actually matters to the people who despise Elon.

No, it’s the fascist-friendly sex-mongering racist rhetoric that gets most people.

Even that could be explained the way if it weren’t for his inept business moves with Twitter and ugly cybertruck.

Jobs proved you can be worshipped while being an eccentric asshole if you’re at least competent.

The vast majority of the world doesn't exist in the online sphere.

I think that they have saturated the initial EV buyers, mainstream is still afraid of EV and there's more anti-EV propaganda in the media than ever before.

1. The vast majority of the world isn't buying Teslas, either

2. Musk is one of few figures whose controversies escape the online world, though. Like the "pedo diver" thing, it was an international story with world attention and he jammed himself in the middle of it.

That said, I'm also not convinced his reputation is the reason for shipments to drop precipitously. But it could absolutely be a contributing factor.

> The vast majority of the world doesn't exist in the online sphere.

I wonder if the vast majority of potential Tesla customers does though.

    The vast majority of the world doesn't exist in the online sphere.

Well, no, but the "vast majority of the world" isn't in the market for a Tesla, either.

You don't think there's a significant overlap between prospective Tesla buyers and people who are familiar with Musk's hijinks?

Some of it is propaganda, and some of it is a direct result of Tesla's design choices. It would be ironic if Tesla helped give EVs a bad name with novelty "features" like electric door latches and a lack of mechanical controls.

He's supporting a dictator that launched a full scale war in Europe. Hard no for me.

I think there are lots of us.

Same. If I wanted to project that image I'd just paint a swastika on my existing car.

There are other practical reasons too, but I am literally never going to buy a Tesla. It’s just never going to happen.

He’s made it his mission to insult me on a personal level. One dollar equals one vote so I pay attention where mine go.

I'm in the market for an EV for the first time and won't consider a Tesla due to him going full mask off on Twitter over the last year.

Honestly, he has been on a tear alienating the primary pool of Tesla buyers and appealing to a group that denies climate change and would never buy an electric car. I used to hear praise of Musk constantly from other folks in software 10 years ago and all that positive buzz is gone.

Yes. I am a Y owner and in for a 2nd EV. But waiting until Rivian R2.

> "Whether you hate me, like me or are indifferent, do you want the best car, or do you not want the best car?"

... only works when you're making the best car. There are a lot of very competitive EV alternatives now.

Anecdata: I had paid my $200 [sunk cost] deposit. Elon's bullshit turned me away.

The deposit is refundable, you know.

The numbers from the article are 422k deliveries in Q1 2023, 386k in Q1 2024. That's down by almost 10%, not up.

Even if I wanted a Tesla, it wouldn’t pass the partner acceptance test for me. My partner is aware of the quality issues, but beyond that, she (like me) can’t help but cringe at the optics of owning a Musk-mobile.

If you want to be a loudmouth dick online and intertwine your persona with that of your companies for #traction, it cuts both ways.

It's funny how different cultures view things so differently. My wife (Chinese) and her circle of friends are pretty much the opposite. They used to all get BMWs/Mercedes but with how practical EVs are, the default choice is now Tesla. I think they're somewhat aware of Elon's shenanigans but it's all chalked up to "silly American politics" so no one cares.