Elon Musk loses his mind over Tesla protests, claims paid protestors with dumb ‘proof’
Elon Musk is getting increasingly upset about the Tesla protests. Following a significant ramp-up in demonstrations against the automaker this weekend, the CEO went on an unhinged rant claiming the protests were full of paid protestors and that his former buddy Reid Hoffman was behind it.
Last weekend, the ‘Tesla Takedown’ movement had its biggest demonstration yet with an attempt to have protests at all Tesla store and service center locations in the US on Saturday, as well as hundreds of other demonstrations at locations around the world.
Several protests, like the one in New York City, attracted hundreds, if not thousands, of people – pictured above.
Those protests started as a grassroots movement on Blusky, an X competitor, in February. They were organized by local activists looking to put pressure on Musk, who they believe is financing the rise of a fascist authoritarian regime in the US by negatively affecting Tesla, which represents a big part of Musk’s wealth.
The growing Tesla protests are clearly having an effect on Musk, who went on a rant on X about it yesterday.
He shared several posts about theories suggesting the protestors are being paid to attend the Tesla protests:
I looked into all the supposed “evidence” presented by Musk’s posts and the ones he shared, including a Fox News article, and none of them provide a shred of evidence about Tesla protestors being paid. They only make references to conservative voices, believing that they are paid protestors.
In a post where Musk claims “they are literally paid”, the only proposed “proof” is that all protestors left at the exact time when the demonstration was supposed to end, which can be explain as simply as most jurisdiction require to apply for permits to have large demostrations and they are allowed for a certain period of times.
Therefore, his “proof” is simply evidence that those Tesla protestors were following the law and exercising their First Amendment right to free speech.
In another post, Musk accused his former ‘PayPal Mafia’ friend Reid Hoffman of funding these protests. Hoffman responded by telling Musk that he should just come to terms with the fact that many people don’t like him:
The biggest irony is that Musk was pushing all those baseless claims of people getting paid to attend Tesla protests while he was himself at a rally he organized yesterday to promote the Republican Candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The rally was really popular, and it was because Musk said he would give $1 million to two people attending the rally—literally financially incentivizing people to attend.
Electrek’s Take
Elon has completely lost it. How can he accuse Tesla protestors of being paid when he is himself basically paying people to attend his rally?
On top of having no proof whatsoever, he makes no sense.
Furthermore, the arguments of the Tesla Takedown movement have become much stronger this weekend, with the third-term fiasco.
Following an interview with NBC this weekend, Trump is now on record saying that he is “not joking” about a third term and that his team is actively looking at ways to make it happen. This is clearly unconstitutional and authoritarian.
Their whole argument is that Musk is financing an authoritarian takeover of the government. It is now hard to argue against that.
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British Columbia got its first 400 kW DC fast charger last week at Canadian C-store chain On The Run, but that’s not the good part. As part of a limited time offer, these chargers are FREE!
The Canadian convenience store chain just took the wraps off its new, ABB-developed, 400 kW chargers earlier this month, but they’re already planning to bring the ultra-fast 400 kW dispensers to at least four more locations in BC this spring, and have them online just in time for the summer road trip season – something On The Run hopes its customers will appreciate.
“The A400 charger delivers an enhanced customer experience, with reliability and performance from a 32-inch screen to higher power charging sessions and power sharing,” reads the company’s official announcement, via LinkedIn. “Download the Journie Rewards app to start the charge – free for a limited time.”
On The Run’s new 400 kW ABB DC fast chargers are compatible with CCS and CHAdeMO plugs, and can accommodate Tesla and other NACS-equipped vehicles with an adapter. That said, the company seems to imply that Tesla drivers in particular will have a maximum charging speed of “just” 50 kW, which feel hilarious (given the current state of affairs between Tesla and the Canadian government), but probably isn’t.
In addition to the ABB A400 400 kW units shown here, On The Run locations also employ the ABB Terra 184 dispensers rated at 180 kW. On The Run plans similar deployments at the four BC locations mentioned above, as well as two more each in Quebec and Ontario slated to go live towards the end of this year.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla’s controversial CEO Elon Musk once mocked 350 kW charging speed as being “for a child’s toy,” despite the fact that, nearly nine years later, his own cars and Superchargers can barely make it to 325 kW while others have sailed right on past. I made fun of that fact on the Quick Charge episode shown, above – and, while I do think it’s funny and relevant, the much more relevant piece of news here is that companies like BP Pulse, Revel, and Wallbox are actively deploying 400 kW solutions, today (while others hit the same mark as far back as 2017).
It’s just a fact: Tesla has fallen way behind.
SOURCE | IMAGES: On The Run, via Electric Autonomy.
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Terawatt Infrastructure‘s first medium- and heavy-duty electric charging truck stop in California is now online, in Rancho Dominguez.
Located 12 miles north of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the private Rancho Dominguez site, which is shared among multiple fleets, will support electric trucking fleet operations in and out of the largest container ports in the US.
First customers include Dreaded Trucking, Hight Logistics, PepsiCo, Quick Container Drayage, Southern Counties Express, Tradelink Transport, and WestCoast Trucking & Warehousing.
Terawatt’s electric charging truck stop features 20 pull-through and bobtail DC fast charging stalls with a capacity of 7 megawatts (MW), enabling charging for up to 125 trucks per day using a simple reservations system. Terawatt’s site features a proprietary charge management system, in-house technicians, 24/7 customer service, and onsite parts management.
“This launch underscores growing collaboration between enterprises, shippers, carriers, and charging infrastructure providers to advance sustainable technologies across logistics and transportation operations, especially in the medium and heavy-duty sectors,” said Neha Palmer, CEO and cofounder of Terawatt. Palmer added that the company will bring another charging site online in Rialto, California, in June.
Terawatt joined some of the world’s largest shippers and carriers in September 2024 to launch the I-10 Consortium heavy-duty EV operations pilot, the “first-ever US over-the-road electrified corridor.” Terawatt is providing charging infrastructure, including software, operations, and maintenance support at six of its owned charging hubs along the I-10 corridor.
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In its most aggressive attack against offshore wind yet, the Trump administration halted the $5 billion Empire Wind 1, already under construction off New York’s coast.
Norwegian developer Equinor announced yesterday that it received notice from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) ordering Empire Wind 1 to halt all activities on the outer continental shelf until BOEM has completed its review. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted this tweet yesterday:
Burgum gave no indication of what insufficiencies there were in the approval process for the fully permitted offshore wind project, despite Trump’s recent declaration of a national energy emergency that speeds up permitting processes.
The commercial lease for the 810-megawatt (MW) Empire Wind 1’s federal offshore wind area was signed in March 2017 during the first Trump administration. It was approved by the Biden administration in November 2023 and began construction in 2024.
The project is being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Empire Wind 1, which was due to come online in 2027, has the potential to power 500,000 New York homes.
“Halting construction of fully permitted energy projects is the literal opposite of an energy abundance agenda,” said American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet in a statement. “We encourage the administration to quickly address perceived inadequacies in the prior permit approvals so that this project can complete construction and bring much-needed power to the grid.”
As Electrek reported, Equinor secured $3 billion to finance Empire Wind 1 in January. The total amount drawn under the project finance term loan facility as of March 31 was around $1.5 billion.
As of March 31, Empire Wind has a gross book value of around $2.5 billion, including South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (pictured above), which was expected to become the US’s largest dedicated port facility for offshore wind.
In response to BOEM’s stop work order, New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued the following statement:
Every single day, I’m working to make energy more affordable, reliable and abundant in New York and the federal government should be supporting those efforts rather than undermining them. Empire Wind 1 is already employing hundreds of New Yorkers, including 1,000 good-paying union jobs as part of a growing sector that has already spurred significant economic development and private investment throughout the state and beyond.
As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand. I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future.
Equinor says it’s considering appealing BOEM’s order.
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