Democrats abandon Tesla over Musk’s views
US DEMOCRATS are turning their backs on Tesla as Elon Musk gains traction as a Right-wing influencer.
Figures from Strategic Vision, a research company, show the proportion of Tesla buyers identifying as Demo- crats plunged last autumn, despite the electric carmarker’s eco-credentials. Republicans buying the cars outnumbered Democrats by two to one.
Tesla is America’s leading electric vehicle maker. Its cars were once seen as a mark of Left-wing virtue signalling.
However, Mr Musk’s criticism of Joe Biden, his association with Republican presidential hopefuls and his calls for a “red wave” in this year’s election are believed to have put off Democrat voters. Strategic Vision’s data, published by The Wall Street Journal, found that just 15pc of Tesla buyers were Democrats in October, compared to 39pc across 2022.
The percentage identifying as Republicans was 32pc, while 44pc said they were independents. Tesla recently reported its first drop in car sales in four years. On Tuesday it said revenues had fallen by 9pc in the first quarter of the year, its biggest drop since 2012. Its shares rose by almost 10pc yesterday after Mr Musk pledged to speed up production of a new, cheaper electric car.
Mr Musk’s political pronouncements and his ownership of Twitter, where he has restored Donald Trump’s account, have pushed Left-wing motorists to buy electric cars from Cadillac, Hyundai and Mercedes, Strategic Vision said.
However, the survey suggests that Tesla’s popularity among Left-wingers has rebounded, with 35pc of buyers in February identifying as Democrats.
Last year, the University of California, Berkeley found that one third of US electric cars were registered in the 5pc of counties likely to vote Democrat.