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Tesla stock dropped over 50 points today, primarily in response to a very public feud between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and convicted felon Donald Trump.

But, as we pointed out in November, this doesn’t have anything to do with company performance, and rather only reflects a change in the market’s expectation of potential benefit to Tesla from government corruption.

Tesla stock has had a wild few months, with big rises and falls that has had little to do with company performance (which is, perhaps, nothing new for the stock, which has always been a speculative vehicle).

Much of the movement of TSLA has been centered around CEO Elon Musk’s relationship with Donald Trump.

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Musk very publicly supported Mr. Trump’s run for president, giving hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Mr. Trump’s campaign, despite the latter’s openly anti-EV positions (and despite that there exists a clear legal remedy stopping insurrectionists from holding office in the US).

Musk even went on to spew climate denying nonsense alongside Mr. Trump during the campaign, and later said nothing when Mr. Trump opposed the Paris Agreement, even though he previously opposed a similar move in 2017.

This led to Musk being invited into an advisory role, which was dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency despite it not being a real government department, and having a supposed mission redundant with the already-existing Government Accountability Office.

And in the immediate aftermath of the election, TSLA stock rose swiftly, purely because of expectations of corruption. But after that swift rise, it gradually fell as the reality of economy-destroying tariffs, anti-EV legislation, and Tesla’s brand perception problem due to Musk’s actions all became apparent. Despite Musk’s position as a top republican party donor, the party still seems more interested in catering to its traditional base in the fossil fuel industry.

Despite some recovery from that big post election rise-and-drop, TSLA took another big hit today, and it’s all due to the current rift forming between these two egomaniacs.

A rift over spending becomes something greater

During his tenure in his advisory position, Musk claims to have saved the government hundreds of billions of dollars, but independent accounting has shown that it is in fact likely to increase the deficit, not decrease it.

Nevertheless, it seems like Musk was fooled into believing his own propaganda, and into thinking that deficit reduction was ever a goal of Mr. Trump, despite that he previously oversaw the highest nominal deficit of any person in the history of the United States.

At least, he believed that until now. In the last few days, after leaving his advisory position, Musk has loudly opposed the new republican budget bill, which he now correctly points out will add trillions of dollars to the US deficit (as any lucid person might have predicted from the party of waste).

The criticism came to a head today, with Musk going through one of his patented tweetstorms, acting more like a jilted lover than a CEO in charge of a company that has many people’s retirement invested into it.

There’s been a lot of back and forth, but over the course of the day, Musk has posted many statements about how dangerous the budget bill will be for the US debt and deficit.

Mr. Trump responded, stating that Musk should have known these things before now, but that Musk is only acting this way because he cut the “EV mandate.”

To be clear, the bill in question does not cut any EV mandate, as there was never an EV mandate to begin with, but it does cut EV tax credits which Tesla has gained more benefit from than any other company, though Tesla lobbied in support of these cuts. The bill does not cut support for oil and gas companies, which are orders of magnitude higher than the support EV companies get.

In response to this, Musk claimed that he personally swung the election in favor of the republicans, and that Mr. Trump is showing “ingratitude” by not recognizing this fact.

Mr. Trump responded by suggesting that the government could save money by terminating all of the subsidies and contracts for services with Musk’s various companies. To this, Musk said that he would immediately decommission the Dragon capsule, which has been the main spacecraft used by NASA to service the International Space Station.

Then, Musk went on to state that a recession will happen in the second half of this year due to Mr. Trump’s position on tariffs, and also to accuse Mr. Trump of being on Jeffrey Epstein’s list (which is not the first time Musk has publicly accused someone of pedophilia, though it is the first time he’s said that about someone who he claimed to “love as much as any straight man can,” and knowingly worked alongside), and to agree with a call for his impeachment.

The market sees this as a negative sign

The public rift seems to have shaken the stock market out of its stupor, as Tesla went down more than 50 points since the start of today.

While nothing significant has changed for Tesla’s business today – it’s still suffering from falling sales in an otherwise rising market, and it still has a bad CEO – what has changed is the possibility of the company benefitting from corruption.

As I stated during TSLA’s meteoric post-election rise, the stock price was merely a reflection of the market’s expectation that Mr. Trump, a person with an enormous history of corruption, would thank Musk for his election participation by rewarding him and his companies. Nobody quite knew how that might happen, but everyone expected that it would.

I claimed, at the time, that this was unlikely to turn out the way the market thought it would, because the republicans would likely continue to favor fossil fuels, and that regulatory blockages were not the thing holding Tesla back from its automation goals.

Musk did attempt to use the government in corrupt ways, as detailed this week in a report by Senator Warren, and as we all remember from the White House Auto Mall infomercial (remember, folks, “everything’s computer!“).

But none of that was ever going to justify the addition of hundreds of billions of dollars to Tesla’s market cap.

The market seems to be realizing that more today, as over $100 billion has been shaved off of Tesla’s market cap since the start of the feud. That’s quite a lot of priced-in expected benefit that has been wiped away, all by a single tweetstorm.

Fight shows how vulnerable Tesla is to Musk’s whims

While it’s all well and good to see the worst two people you know fighting each other, and to finally see the inevitable fallout between two narcissists who frankly held out much longer than any reasonable person thought they would, this fight does show the significant vulnerability that Tesla has to the whims of a CEO who has shown poor ability to control his impulses in the past.

The last year or more has been highlighted by several poor business decisions by Musk, not the least of which is his support of one of the larger anti-EV entities on the planet right now.

But beyond the politics, his leadership has still been erratic for the company. Not only has he paid more attention to the many other companies he runs, when he has turned his attention to Tesla, it hasn’t been positive for the company.

After mostly ignoring Tesla for a few years, he went through a flurry of activity in the run-up to last year’s shareholder advisory vote on his compensation package. This flurry involved firing everyone including important leadership and successful teamscanceling an all-important affordable car project (and lying about it) and holding Tesla’s AI projects hostage while shifting both resources and staff from Tesla to his private AI company, even as he claims that AI is the future of Tesla.

Now, TSLA investors have another thing to worry about – whether Musk will continue to try to “poke the bear” and get more government opposition to his company, even as he continues to make himself distasteful globally (by, for example, showing support for German neo-Nazisagreeing with a defense of Hitler’s actions in the Holocaust, or his many other white supremacist statements). These actions have driven protests against the companyembarrassed owners and pushed many customers away – and those protesters aren’t planning on stopping.

While some may cheer this new rift that has formed between Musk and one of the environment’s greatest enemies, Donald Trump, it seems unlikely that Musk’s erratic behavior will be beneficial for Tesla the company in the long run.


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Tesla tops another ADAS test, Hyundai tops range tests, and Texas gets BESS

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Tesla tops another ADAS test, Hyundai tops range tests, and Texas gets BESS

On today’s test-acular episode of Quick Charge, it’s a new day and a new Chinese ADAS test for Tesla to conquer – but this one’s got a LOT more pedestrian carnage to parse through! We’ve also got some great e-bike deals from Retrospec and a bladder-busting Hyundai.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Retrospec – the makers of sleek, powerful e-bikes and outdoor gear built for everyday adventure! To that end, we’ve got a pair of Retrospec e-bike reviews followed up by the updated Hyundai IONIQ 6 with nearly 350 miles of range from its updated long-range battery. With that, Hyundai now has the longest range Korean EV on the market, while Texas is adding megawatts of battery energy storage to beef up its troubled grid, and it’s doing so faster and cheaper than ever before.

PlusQuick Charge listeners can get an extra 10% off the price of their next awesome e-bike by using code ELECTREK10 at retrospec.com!

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (most weeks, anyway). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.


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Cadillac will keep this popular feature for EVs, but not in the US

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Cadillac will keep this popular feature for EVs, but not in the US

Although many were disappointed to hear that GM was moving away from Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, it appears that it will continue to offer them in at least some overseas markets. Cadillac plans to continue offering the popular feature in EVs sold in Australia and New Zealand.

Cadillac EVs keep Apple CarPlay, Android in Australia

Only two GM electric vehicles remain on sale in the US with CarPlay and Android Auto: the GMC Hummer EV and the Cadillac Lyriq. However, that will soon change.

GM is phasing out the popular connectivity tech in favor of its own Google-based infotainment system. The company argues that an in-house system will offer drivers more control in future EVs. GM, like many automakers, also plans to offer upgrades and subscription-based features.

In at least a few overseas markets, it’s taking a different route. Cadillac announced it will launch a new Connected Services system later this year, featuring Google built-in, for EVs sold in Australia and New Zealand.

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The Cadillac Connected Services offers a suite of connectivity features, including a mobile app and over-the-air (OTA) updates.

Cadillac-Apple-CarPlay-EVs
Cadillac Connected Services for EVs sold in Australia and New Zealand (Source: Cadillac)

Managing Director of GM Australia and New Zealand, Jess Bala, said that “The inclusion of our new Connected Infotainment experience also means that Cadillac owners will have the very latest in Google’s class-leading services, from Google Maps to the Google Assistant.”

Cadillac’s new mobile app enables drivers to check the battery level, precondition the cabin, run vehicle diagnostics, and more.

Cadillac-Apple-CarPlay-EVs
2026 Cadillac Vistiq electric SUV (Source: GM)

Despite the new service, a GM spokesperson told CarExpert that “All Cadillac Lyriq, Lyriq-V, Vistiq and Optiq vehicles coming to Australia and New Zealand will offer Cadillac Connected Services as well as wireless smartphone projection,” meaning Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

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2025 Cadillac LYRIQ luxury trim (Source: Cadillac)

The new service will roll out later this year, starting with the Lyriq. All 2026 Cadillac Lyriq buyers will receive an eight-year subscription to the new Connected Services.

Those who have already taken delivery, or do so before the service rolls out, will be offered a free upgrade from a service location.

Next year, Cadillac will launch the entry-level Optiq and three-row Vistiq. The high-performance Lyriq-V is also set to join the lineup.

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Tesla is considering building a smaller pickup truck after the Cybertruck failed

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Tesla is considering building a smaller pickup truck after the Cybertruck failed

Tesla is considering building a smaller pickup truck after the Cybertruck has officially become a complete commercial flop.

When first unveiling the Cybertruck and its polarizing design, CEO Elon Musk did mention that if the controversial truck proves unsuccessful, Tesla would build a different, less polarizing one. He even suggested that Tesla already had a plan B ready to go.

The Cybertruck is now officially unsuccessful.

Tesla planned for a production of 250,000 units per year, and Musk said that it could ramp up to 500,000 units a year.

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Yet, the automaker is currently selling the Cybertruck at a rate of about 20,000 units per year. It’s a commercial flop.

The vehicle program is selling at approximately 10% of the installed production capacity.

Despite the failure, Tesla has not yet greenlit a replacement, but Tesla VP of vehicle engineering, Lars Moravy, recently discussed the potential of Tesla making a “smaller pickup”:

“We always talked about making a smaller pickup. I think in the future, as more and more of the robotaxi comes into the world, we look at those options and we think about, OK, that kind of service is useful not just for people, but also for goods. [..] We’ve definitely been churning in the design studio about what we might do to serve that need for sure.”

It’s unclear whether Moravy is explicitly referring to a smaller Cybertruck or a smaller pickup designed for cargo.

One thing is clear from the executive comment: Tesla’s priority is “robotaxi”.

Electrek’s Take

This autonomy thing is truly ruining Tesla. They are putting everything through the lens of autonomy, even this comment about making a smaller pickup truck includes “as more of the robotaxi comes into the world”.

The result is that in the last 5 years, Tesla has released a single new vehicle: the Cybertruck.

Tesla should have launched five new vehicle programs during that time, but instead, it focused only on autonomy and failed to deliver it. By now, Tesla should have two cheaper vehicle programs, a real full-size third-row SUV, the next-generation Roadster, and a minivan.

Now, Tesla finds itself having given up its lead in electric vehicles for a fake lead in autonomy, which won’t deliver real value for likely another 5 years, while competition from Waymo, Baidu, and others is pulling ahead.

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