The first and only Tesla Janis Brown ever bought was a dark green Model S in 2012. It wasn’t just a car, the Sunnyvale resident recalled; it was the car.
Brown and her husband drove around the Bay Area in style, basking in the joy of owning the sleekest eco-friendly vehicle and bonding with other Tesla enthusiasts. The pair even christened it by adding a customized plate that read “Geeks Rule” — an homage to their careers in the science field.
But as the years went on, no matter how far they drove, Brown couldn’t get over Tesla’s close proximity to Elon Musk and his controversial antics, from his firing of hundreds of Twitter employees in 2023 to his support for the Trump administration to his subsequent involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency — all things she deeply disagreed with.
Finally — fed up with Musk and feeling the pride of owning a Tesla turning to shame — Brown pulled off the special plate and decided to sell the car on the online used-car retailer Carvana earlier this year.
“It turned into, ‘I’m really embarrassed to be seen driving this thing. I don’t want people to think I think like he does,’” the 60-year-old said.
Across the Bay Area, residents like Brown are choosing to leave Tesla in their rearview mirrors and selling their once-beloved cars. The decision, they say, is fueled by their desire to distance themselves from Musk — and comes as protesters around the region swarm Tesla showrooms and the company’s stocks experienced a 50% dip from its all-time high last December.
In 2024, California sales dropped by 11.6%, with a total of 203,221 Teslas sold compared to 230,010 in 2023. Tesla’s total sales last year were down 1% from 2023 — the first time the company has reported such a drop. S&P Global Mobility reports registrations for Tesla vehicles in the nation were only 43,411 in January, an 11% dip compared to last year.
Last month, Richmond couple Brian Ambrosch and Shelley Facente traded their cherished Model 3 for another electric car brand because of Musk.
“Over the years, it got worse and worse, the feeling of driving a car associated with Elon,” Ambrosch said.
The pair had bought the Tesla in 2018 and quickly grew attached to it. They had planned to keep the car until it died, Ambrosch said, but their disapproval of Musk — especially over his dismissive comments regarding transgender people and the way he handled allegations of harassment and discrimination at Tesla factories — got to them first.
“I loved that car so much, I cried the day we cleaned out all our stuff, and I drove it around the block one last time,” Facente said. “But I never looked back, and I’ve never regretted our decision to offload it, even for a second.”
Also disillusioned with Musk, Los Gatos resident Monika Gorkani recently sold her seven-year-old Model 3 on Carvana.
The 55-year-old said she used to be an Elon fan, convinced he was going to help save the world from climate change. But Gorkani said her positive impression faltered after Musk acquired Twitter and laid off most of its staff. By the time Musk had expressed his full support for Trump in the elections, Gorkani, a Democrat, was ready to break up.
“I’m not the type to switch cars,” she said. “I was planning to drive it until the battery wasn’t working … it was running fine, but at the same time I could not sleep knowing that I was somehow supporting (Musk).”
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from this news organization.
The swift yet firm decision to sell is a stark contrast to a decade ago, when Californians were rushing in droves to buy the latest Tesla model. Now, recent Tesla-related news is filled with reports of protests at showrooms, acts of aggression against Tesla’s cars and car owners, and declining sales and fluctuating stocks.
Tesla’s stocks seem to also reflect that shift, as the company’s stock was down 52% from last December. It briefly picked up this week after Trump hosted a Tesla showcase at the White House and pledged to purchase one in an effort to help the company.
But not everything Musk-related is taking a hit. The cumulative value of Musk’s other companies, including SpaceX, Neuralink, the Boring Company, and xAI has shot up 45% on private markets since November 2024, according to data from Caplight, a secondary market trading platform.
And some believe Tesla owners and cars shouldn’t be the target of those who dislike the company’s CEO. In the Bay Area, Tesla car clubs are keeping the momentum for the vehicles going by promoting in-person car events and camaraderie between owners.
Tesla Owners East Bay, an organization that brings together owners as far north as Benicia and as far south as Fremont, are hosting demo days for Tesla accessories and planning group drives this month. Their X page is filled with supportive posts related to Tesla purchases and test drives from locals.
Representatives from the organization did not respond to a request for comment by this news organization.
Tesla Owners Silicon Valley, which has members from all over the Bay Area, as well as San Joaquin Valley, NorCal-Reno, North Bay and Monterey Bay, are planning similar meet-ups, all leading up to its famed X Takeover event in July. The annual event attracts people from all over the nation and celebrates Teslas, electric vehicles, and other Musk innovations.
More than a million people also follow the Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley’s X account, which is flooded with posts supporting Tesla.
Organization president John Stringer, a long-time Tesla fan and Cybertruck owner, said he won’t be selling his truck and will continue to buy Teslas in the future. The San Jose resident believes Tesla is associated with more than just Musk as the company has thousands of employees — including many of Stringer’s close friends — who are working hard to create a future of high-performing electric vehicles.
“It does get annoying to see the constant hate, but at the end of the day Tesla is employing tens of thousands of people in California,” Stringer said from inside his truck. “I’m really excited about where the company is heading.”
Stringer said he worries about the safety of fellow Tesla owners and workers these days, as violence and vandalism are becoming more common. While he hasn’t personally experienced it, Stringer said he has Tesla friends in other states who have.
“It’s an interesting time, things are polarizing,” he said. “But I think that you can feel a certain way about a person, but don’t take it out on (Tesla) owners. It’s not fair.”
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