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Tesla Takedowns and the Future of EVs
Thousands of people have shown up at Tesla showrooms over the past two months to protest Elon Musk and the actions of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that he oversees.
The Tesla Takedown movement takes aim at Musk’s wallet by encouraging people to boycott Tesla and X, dump stock they own in his companies, or sell their Tesla electric vehicles in a show of solidarity against the billionaire and DOGE.
The climate conflict: EVs are good for the planet, and as Paul Krantz writes at Grist, “Tesla’s status as the Kleenex of EVs is now in question.” Will taking down Tesla also take down climate progress?
How it started: The protests began in February with small groups of people holding signs outside a Tesla showroom in Arizona and a charging station in Maine, and they quickly spread nationwide after posts on Bluesky gained traction, reports TechCrunch.
Tesla Takedown protest in Tucson, Arizona on February 7. (KGUN Tucson)
How it’s going: Tens of thousands of people participated in protests at more than 250 Tesla sites worldwide on March 29, according to the Tesla Takedown organizers. “Notably,” reports Micah Sifry, “many of [the] locations were in Trump country,” in places such as Colorado Springs, CO.; Chattanooga, TN.; and Warminster, PA.
Tesla Takedown protest in Manhattan on March 29. (Bluesky)
Who’s showing up: The Tesla Takedown protests are attracting people of all ages and political stripes and “they’re starting to talk to one another,” said Dr. Dana Fisher, a sociologist and director of the Center for Environment, Community, & Equity at American University.
“It’s interesting how targeting an EV car company is actually bringing in people who are supporting science, people who are supporting the federal workforce, people who are supporting labor, people [who] are supporting more climate action… All of them are there at the same time, which is fascinating,” she commented.
At a recent protest in Brooklyn, N.Y., protesters displayed signs expressing concerns about social security, immigration, personal data, federal workers, Canada, white supremacy, and more. One woman had a sign promoting Rivian, another American EV company that is an alternative to Tesla.
A man with a sign at Brooklyn’s Tesla showroom on March 22. (Credit: Theresa Riley)
The future of EVs: Transportation is one of the biggest sources of emissions of greenhouse gases in the US, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Experts say that one of the best ways to limit damage from climate change is to replace gas-powered cars and trucks with electric vehicles.
One of the big questions surrounding protests at the bestselling EV company’s showrooms is how it will affect the future of EVs and EV adoption, both in the US and worldwide, as InsideClimate News’s Dan Gearino wondered in a recent column. “While some people may be pleased to see Tesla and Musk struggle, and most of the damage was self-inflicted, Tesla’s swoon is probably bad for the US EV market,” he concluded.
Maybe so, but: Sales of General Motors EVs nearly doubled in the first quarter of 2025, rising 94% to 31,887, making GM the second-largest seller of electric vehicles in the US behind Tesla,” reports The Detroit Free Press. Sales of Toyota’s bZ4X EV rose 196% compared with Q1 2024, part of a 44% increase for its electrified lineup, reports Car and Driver.
How bad is it for Tesla? Tesla’s stock price has plummeted, as have sales of Tesla EVs in the US and Europe. New data from Edmunds.com shows that “the number of Tesla owners trading in their EVs jumped nearly 250% [in March 2025], year over year,” reports CBS News. “Experts said if you are in the market for an EV, you can get a really good deal on a used Tesla right now.”
Tesla sales slump. Tesla reported that sales dropped 13% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to last year. “We knew 1Q Tesla deliveries would be soft but these numbers were bad,” one analyst wrote on X. “We are not going to look at these numbers with rose colored glasses… they were a disaster on every metric. Refresh issues but brand crisis key.”
Tesla’s decline comes at the same time as the Trump administration is freezing funding for charging stations, working to weaken tailpipe emissions rules, and placing tariffs on foreign cars, including EVs. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are considering rolling back tax credits for EV buyers. “Everything that’s happening politically couldn’t have happened at a worse time from the point of view of EV adoption,” Ed Kim, president and chief analyst at the car market research firm AutoPacific, told the Washington Post.
Story Ideas
- Report on a local protest. You can find protests happening in your area at the Tesla Takedown website. Talk to people about their reason for showing up. Are there local issues that they are concerned about that could lead to other story ideas?
- Talk to a Tesla owner. Why did they buy their Tesla? How much did climate change factor into their decision? How are they thinking about Musk and DOGE’s impact on the Tesla brand and EVs generally? Are they planning on keeping their Tesla?
- Cover Tesla’s Q1 sales figures and talk to local showrooms about sales in your area. How are the protests affecting sales?
- Report on climate action. How are protestors who support climate action and EVs weighing that against their defiance of Musk? Are they worried that anti-Tesla sentiment will delay EV adoption?
- Report on EV sales. The protests aren’t the only thing impacting Tesla’s bottom line. Competition in the EV market is heating up with more options. Is Tesla’s loss a gain for other companies? Has there been an uptick in interest?
Stories We Like
- “What Tesla’s massive image problem means for the world’s transition to EVs,” by Paul Krantz in Grist
- “The ‘Tesla Takedown’ Movement Hits Differently in Austin,” by Dan Solomon in The Texas Monthly
- “North Bay Tesla owners grapple with politics, whether to sell, as Musk-Trump ‘Global Day of Protest’ dawns,” by Amie Windsor in The Press Democrat
- “Elon Musk Backlash Turns Into Global Sales Slump for Tesla,” by Melissa Eddy and Jack Ewing in The New York Times (gift link)
- “We went to 10 anti-Tesla protests — and a couple counter protests, too,” Verge
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