Elon Musk lies about Tesla’s demand, seals its fate as he says he’ll stay CEO with more shares
Elon Musk says he wants to stay CEO of Tesla for at least the next five years and have more controlling shares in the company.
This will most likely seal Tesla’s fate with Musk’s, as shareholders will likely approve of this despite his toxicity and lies.
As I wrote in my recent article, ‘The Tesla (TSLA) dilemma,’ the company is done if it stays attached to Elon Musk’s toxicity, but the stock will undoubtedly crash if he leaves, as the current valuation is purely based on shareholders believing in his stock-pumping claims about self-driving cars and robots.
Musk created the current situation at Tesla, which he pushed to go all-in on autonomy despite his being wrong about Tesla solving autonomy for years. In the meantime, Tesla has released a single new vehicle over the last five years, the Cybertruck, and it’s a flop.
His backing of divisive politics, rapprochement with Russia, and constant promotion of proven misinformation on social media have resulted in Musk being despised by the majority of the population, especially Tesla’s customer base.
The toxicity of Musk’s brand has leaked to Tesla and the company has been in a clear decline. Tesla’s vehicle sales were down for the first time in 2024 and the decline is accelerating in 2025.
Tesla’s sales were down by about 50,000 units in the first quarter of 2025, and they are tracking similarly in the second quarter.
Today, at the Qatar Economic Forum hosted by Bloomberg, Musk denied the situation entirely.
He said (via AP):
When questioned about Tesla’s weakening sales in the first quarter and April sales thus far in Europe, Musk said the business has “already turned around,” adding that “Europe is our weakest market” and that Tesla was “strong everywhere else.”
This is a lie.
Tesla’s sales in China in Q2 2025 are tracking about 10,000 units below the same period in 2024, despite record incentives and the new Model Y being in volume production.
In the US, data is more opaque, but Tesla is estimated to be down in the market despite offering more discounts than ever.
Europe is indeed Tesla’s weakest market, but there’s no sign that it has “already turned around” as Musk claims.
Despite having the new Model Y available in Q2, sales are way down compared to last year, and it is tracking similarly to Q1 2025, which was a disaster and Tesla blamed it on the Model Y changeover:
It won’t be able to blame the Model Y in Q2 and will need another explanation for the poor sales performance in Europe. Tesla is also offering 0% financing at a high cost in most European markets to counter this clear decline in demand.
Instead of this hard data, Musk backed his lies by claiming that Tesla’s current high stock price proves that the business is good:
Musk said the market is the ultimate scorecard for Tesla’s state of business. “[Tesla] stock wouldn’t be trading near all-time highs” if the business was struggling, he said. While Tesla stock has recovered this year, it still down 13% year to date and off 30% from its all-time high.
The stock price is only up because more people are buying shares than selling them, and they could be buying them for many reasons that have nothing to do with Tesla’s business doing well.
Musk himself has previously said that Tesla’s stock is “worth nothing” if the company can’t solve autonomy, which attached a lot of Tesla’s valuation to autonomous driving. Many Tesla investors are simply holding on to Musk’s claims that Tesla is on the verge of solving autonomy – despite him saying it would happen by the end of every year since 2019.
The CEO was then asked if he was committed to staying as head of Tesla for the next five years, to which he answered ‘yes’.
But he said that he would need more shares in Tesla.
Musk claimed that it wasn’t about money but control over the company:
“I can’t be sitting there and wondering if I’m going to be tossed out. “Now let’s move on.”
Tesla shareholders are currently suing the CEO over threatening them not to build AI products at Tesla if he doesn’t get more control, through shares, in the company.
Electrek’s Take
Blatant lies. We have the data. We know Tesla’s sales are down in virtually all markets. To counter the declining demand, Tesla is offering record discounts and incentives in most markets.
We know Tesla doesn’t do that with strong demand. The automaker is currently throttling down production and offering discounts. Does that sound like the demand is good? No.
I say that he is sealing Tesla’s fate by saying that he will remain CEO because Tesla shareholders will most likely approve of this. They know the stock price will tumble without his “corporate puffery.” They are OK with letting Tesla’s EV business melt just for the hope that he might finally be right about autonomy and Tesla might see light at the end of the tunnel and justify its $1 trillion valuation.
That’s a fallacy.
Elon and Tesla were wrong about unsupervised autonomy working on HW2.5. They were wrong about it working on HW3.0. And they were more likely than not wrong about it working on HW4.
They have made some impressive progress, and they might eventually make it work at scale on HW5 in the next few years. However, by then, there will be plenty of competition, and Tesla is already behind competitors like Waymo, which is already available in several markets and provides hundreds of thousands of paid rides every week.
In addition to the competition, Tesla will also have a giant liability for promising unsupervised self-driving on millions of vehicles produced since 2016 and not being able to deliver on this promise.
All of that while its core EV business is declining.
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The US solar industry just raised the alarm over the GOP’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” warning it could kneecap America’s energy future and trigger a massive power shortage in its current form.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is warning that legislation recently passed by the House Ways and Means Committee could shut down or prevent nearly 300 solar and battery storage factories from opening. If this bill becomes law without changes, the US could lose enough solar generation by 2030 to power the state of Pennsylvania for a year. That’s 145,000 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity that could vanish.
The SEIA analysis paints a grim picture: Nearly 300,000 US jobs are at risk, including 86,000 in solar manufacturing alone. And here’s the twist, as I’ve pointed out before – about 80% of the jobs and factories at risk are in red states that voted for Trump.
“There is still time to improve this bill, which, as written, represents a crisis for America’s ability to build the energy infrastructure we need to meet surging demand,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper.
The SEIA says the legislation would slam the brakes on solar and storage investments just as energy demand is soaring, thanks partly to the explosion in AI and data centers. SEIA estimates the bill could wipe out $220 billion in potential investments by 2030.
The House bill also repeals the Section 25D residential solar tax credit, which has been a critical driver of solar adoption for middle-class families. Without it, installing solar gets way more expensive – and out of reach for many households.
As Electrek reported last week, solar and wind accounted for almost 98% of new US electrical generating capacity added in Q1 2025, according to new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) data.
Solar and wind also made up an impressive 100% of new capacity in March, and March was the 19th consecutive month in which solar was the largest source of new capacity.
The US needs to add 206.5 gigawatts of new energy capacity by 2030. Solar is expected to deliver nearly three-quarters of that. If the bill guts solar incentives, we’re looking at higher electricity bills and slower economic growth. SEIA says the rollback could drive up consumer energy costs by $51 billion.
Hopper didn’t mince words: “Passing this bill would create a catastrophic energy shortfall, cede AI and tech leadership to China, and damage some of the most vital sectors of the US economy.”
She added that the Senate can still step in with a smarter proposal that aligns with Trump’s push for US energy dominance.
SEIA’s message to lawmakers? Fix the bill or energy production will plummet, blackouts will become more frequent, and the US will face a devastating – and completely avoidable – energy shortage.
Read more: The House draft budget kills the 30% residential solar tax credit
To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
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![Lucid Gravity flexes its power at the Nürburgring alongside other upcoming EVs [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/05/Lucid-Gravity-Nurburgring.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Lucid’s Gravity is a three-row electric SUV, but it’s faster than most sports cars. Boasting up to 828 hp, the luxury SUV can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3.5 seconds. The Lucid Gravity was spotted ripping around the Nürburgring track in Germany, showing off its power and agility. Check it out in the videos below.
Lucid Gravity hits the Nürburgring for testing
As it ramps up production of its first electric SUV, Lucid is preparing for another big year of growth. Last week, Lucid’s interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, told Bloomberg that the company would enter new parts of Europe and the Middle East this year.
Two Lucid Gravity test vehicles with European test plates were recently spotted testing at the Nürburgring, hinting that an official launch could be coming soon.
In a video from StateSideSuperCars posted last week, you can catch a glimpse of the Gravity (skip to 9:45) showing off its agility, handling, and control as it rips around the race track.
Another video, courtesy of EMS Sport TV, shows the Gravity test vehicle alongside several other current and upcoming EV models, including BMW’s Neue Klasse SUV, Mercedes CLA EV, and what appears to be the Kia EV4 sedan.
During the Gravity’s “Celestial Arrival” in March, Winterhoff said Gravity deliveries would resume by the end of April. Lucid delivered the first models in December 2024, but those were for family, friends, and employees.
The Lucid Gravity Grand Touring is available to order in the US. Prices start at $94,900 with up to 450 miles of range. Later this year, Lucid will launch the Gravity Touring model, starting at $79,900.
On Lucid’s website, the Gravity SUV is still unavailable to order in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, or Norway.
The Lucid Gravity Grand Touring and Touring models are available in Saudi Arabia, starting at SAR 487,715 ($130,000) and SAR 416,645 ($111,000), respectively.
Another luxury electric SUV was recently spotted at the Nürburgring. The “ultra-luxe” Genesis GV90 was caught with less camo, giving us our best look at the upcoming flagship SUV.
Source: Lucidowners.com
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Waffle House is about to become a go-to DC fast charging spot for EV drivers, thanks to a new partnership with bp pulse.
The EV charging arm of British oil giant bp just announced a “strategic relationship” with the American diner chain to bring DC fast charging to a network of Waffle House locations across the South and Southeast, including Texas, Georgia, and Florida.
Each site will get six DC fast charging bays with 400kW chargers featuring both CCS and NACS connectors. The first stations are expected to go live in 2026.
Now, if you’ve ever been on a road trip through the South, you already know Waffle House is always open. Like, always. The lights are on 24/7, even during hurricanes and major storms. There’s actually something called the “Waffle House Index” used by FEMA and emergency responders to gauge how bad a storm is. If the Waffle House is closed? It’s serious.
That makes these locations a pretty smart choice for DC fast chargers. In an evacuation scenario or on a road trip, it’s a reliable place to stop, fast charge your car, and grab a plate of smothered and covered hash browns.
“Adding an iconic landmark like Waffle House to our growing portfolio of EV charging sites is such an exciting opportunity,” said Sujay Sharma, CEO of bp pulse Americas. “We’re building a robust network of ultrafast chargers across the country.”
A bp pulse spokesperson told Electrek that the “first batch of 50 sites is already in the works.” And with Waffle House locations situated along major highways and well-traveled routes, this move could make a big difference in EV charging accessibility, especially in areas that need an EV infrastructure boost.
Read more: Rivian R1T gets dragged 100 feet after Hurricane Helene and still runs [Video]
If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
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