[WaPo] As Musk tears through Washington, some Tesla owners feel buyer’s remorse

when virtue signaling takes a wrong turn but happily turns into a new kind of virtue signaling

https://wapo.st/4gRp4Ut

As Musk tears through Washington, some Tesla owners feel buyer’s remorse
For many D.C.-area owners, the car has gone from progressive icon to badge of shame.

February 24, 2025 at 6:11 p.m. EST
By Tobi Raji and Joe Heim

About 10 years ago, Tom Blackburn became one of the first 100,000 people to buy a Tesla Model S. The purchase was part of a broader effort to adopt a more environmentally conscious lifestyle, which also included installing solar panels on his Virginia home.

Now, the 76-year-old is worried about the message his car might send to others: that he supports Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, who has embraced right-wing politics, boosted antisemitic conspiracy theories on his personal X account, and become a central figure of President Donald Trump’s administration. As a small act of protest, Blackburn purchased a bumper sticker that reads, “I bought this before I knew he was crazy.”

Marylander Carla Harne, 41, has watched the tide turn against Tesla and Musk from the front seat of her sleek, fiery red Model 3. Harne’s interactions with others over her car had mostly been positive — until last year, when, hours after Trump was elected president of the United States, someone threw “probably a dozen” eggs at her car as she drove home from work.

“My windshield was just covered,” Harne said.

Andrew Loewinger of Northwest D.C. sold his Model S in November to protest Musk and his “abhorrent politics and actions.”

“After I sold the car, I got a customer satisfaction survey from them, and what I wrote, which I still believe, is that Musk has irretrievably damaged the brand, and I would not associate with that brand again, period,” Loewinger, 71, said.

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Musk’s actions are distinctly felt here in the Washington metropolitan region, where about 20 percent of the federal workforce call the area home. Protests against DOGE have taken place almost weekly and Tesla showrooms have also been picketed, including ones in Georgetown, Arlington and Owings Mills, Maryland. At one of the demonstrations in Georgetown earlier this month, protesters carried signs that read, “No one voted for the Muskrat” and “Musk Robbing America.” A message scrawled in colorful chalk on the sidewalk surrounding the dealership read: “You want a swasticar?”

For some Washington residents, the political baggage associated with owning a Tesla has become too great.

“It just irritates me very deeply that the man who started the Tesla and has done other good things has, in my opinion, completely gone off the rails,” Blackburn said. “I would never buy another Tesla. I have a brother who bought a Tesla at my urging and a really good friend who bought a Tesla at my urging. Neither of them will ever buy a Tesla again.”

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While other electric car manufacturers have gained ground in recent years, Tesla continues to dominate the U.S. market, including the Washington region.

A little more than half of the 9,045 electric-only vehicles registered in D.C. are Teslas, according to a D.C. Dept. of Motor Vehicles spokesperson, by far the leading electric vehicle brand in the city. In Maryland, there are 54,290 Teslas registered, making up about 42 percent of the state’s 129,000 registered electric and hybrid vehicles as of Jan. 31, according to Maryland’s transportation department. . . .

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