Just this month, my parents decided they wanted to buy a new car since the lease on our Tesla is coming to an end. In past years, this decision was automatic: once our lease expired, my parents would swap out our Tesla for another — maybe a newer model or a different color. We never thought twice about it.
But this year was different. For the first time, the question of what car to replace our Tesla with sparked real debate in my family.
In the Bay Area, Teslas have become as common as blue recycling bins and Starbucks coffee cups. They’re a part of the natural landscape: parked in driveways, stopped at every intersection and even filling the Menlo parking lot. Just a few years ago, they were a symbol of wealth, eco-consciousness and progress. Teslas were the first mass-produced all-electric vehicles, bucking the trend of hybrid cars, and that’s what made them such a revolutionary choice.
Driving a Tesla meant you cared about climate change and making sustainable choices for the future of the environment. But lately, driving a Tesla feels like a different statement. It’s no longer a statement about electric vehicles or technology, but a political statement about who and what you support.
At the center of that change is Elon Musk. Musk isn’t just the CEO of Tesla — he is Tesla; he’s made himself inseparable from the company. Over the past year, his behavior has gone from eccentric to genuinely harmful. He’s amplified conspiracy theories, mocked journalists and critics and used his platform on X (formerly Twitter) to push rhetoric that many consider antisemitic and extremist. For instance, after Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022, antisemitic tweets more than doubled, increasing by 106 percent from an average of 6,204 to 12,762 per week, according to a study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and CASM Technology.
He’s also aligned himself with Donald Trump and joined his administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, further politicizing the image of the company and tethering Tesla’s public identity to a far-right wing political agenda. Musk’s presence is loud, unfiltered and impossible to ignore. And for many, including myself, that makes the act of driving a Tesla feel a lot more complicated than it ever used to be.
Some people argue that it’s “just a car,” and that you can separate the product from the person behind it. But I don’t think that applies here. Musk has gone out of his way to make it impossible to separate the two. He’s positioned himself as Tesla’s frontman, delivering updates on social media before the company even issues press releases and actively shaping the culture around the product. When you buy a Tesla, you’re not just driving an electric vehicle — you’re buying into the world Musk has built. He’s already the world’s richest man. By driving a Tesla, you’re supporting him, you’re giving him more money, influence and power.
There have been growing reports of Teslas getting vandalized in cities across the country and parts of Europe — some spray-painted with anti-Musk messages. Not because people hate electric vehicles, but because the Tesla name now comes with political baggage.
It’s important to note that this shift in perception of Tesla isn’t a rejection of electric vehicles. In fact, interest in EVs is at an all-time high. According to the International Energy Agency, “Electric cars accounted for around 18 percent of all cars sold in 2023, up from 14 percent in 2022 and only 2 percent five years earlier, in 2018.” Instead, people have simply realized that buying a Tesla is no longer the only — or even the best — way to drive sustainably. Today, there are dozens of EV choices on the market, including models from Hyundai, Kia, Rivian, Ford and BMW, that don’t come with the same controversy. If people care about fighting climate change, then they should also care about who they’re endorsing in the process.
That’s why this time, my family is looking at other car options. There are plenty of other electric cars on the market — ones made by companies that aren’t making headlines for all the wrong reasons. So, next time you or your family considers buying a Tesla, make sure to think twice about what that means for you and who your purchase would support. Because in 2025, choosing a car is no longer just about design or price — it’s about deciding what you stand for.
