Eric Ramos switched his gas-guzzling truck for a Tesla Mannequin S about six years in the past.
Ramos, 44, was bored with paying $60 to replenish his fuel tank and wished one thing a little bit quicker.
However amid current incidents of vandalism towards Tesla automobiles and dealerships spurred by anger towards CEO Elon Musk, Ramos is worried that his automobile might develop into a goal. He mentioned that would put him in a foul spot financially.
Ramos and different longtime Tesla homeowners — together with some who share anti-Musk sentiments — really feel caught in the course of the feud and suppose private property needs to be off limits.
“Some individuals work onerous for his or her automobiles, and never all of us are wealthy that personal a Tesla,” Ramos mentioned. “I feel it’s idiotic for anyone to take it out on anyone else’s property. That’s like taking it out on anyone’s residence.”
Tesla’s inventory market worth and status have taken hits since Musk joined President Donald Trump’s administration as head of the Division of Authorities Effectivity, or DOGE. Musk has been shifting to slash the dimensions of the federal authorities.
Musk’s assist for far-right causes globally have additionally come beneath scrutiny. On the day of Trump’s second inauguration, Musk made a stiff-armed gesture that recalled the Nazi salute.
Requires protests and boycotts of Tesla have adopted.
Throughout the nation, authorities have reported incidents of vandalism towards Tesla automobiles and dealerships. In Loveland, Colorado, two males have been arrested on suspicion of utilizing “an incendiary machine” to commit vandalism at a Tesla outlet. This month, 4 Cybertrucks have been destroyed in a blaze in Seattle, however authorities haven’t mentioned if the fireplace was deliberately set. Final week, gunshots have been fired at a Tesla dealership in Oregon.
Trump has mentioned he would purchase a Tesla to shore up the corporate’s gross sales and final week sat with Musk in a purple Tesla sedan on the White Home grounds, the place a number of fashions have been displayed.
“It’s an amazing product,” Trump mentioned. Referring to Musk, Trump mentioned “now we have to rejoice him.”
Primary, it is an amazing product, pretty much as good because it will get—and quantity two, as a result of @ElonMusk has devoted his power and his life to doing this and I feel he has been handled very unfairly… pic.twitter.com/6qrfwrbT0f
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2025
The Chicago space hasn’t been proof against the backlash. Vandals tagged a brand new Tesla dealership in Buffalo Grove with graffiti over the weekend. A Tesla showroom within the Gold Coast has been the location of protests calling for individuals to ditch their automobiles.
However the ire hasn’t simply been directed at Tesla properties.
When Pablo Espinosa left work earlier this month he was met with an unwelcome shock. His 2022 Tesla Mannequin Y, which had been parked within the Humboldt Park space on the Northwest Aspect, had been vandalized.
Somebody had scratched a Spanish curse phrase into the hood.
Insurance coverage will cowl the restore, however Espinosa needed to pay a $500 deductible. He loves the automotive’s know-how however mentioned he’d think about buying and selling it for one more automobile if the vandalism continues.
“I wouldn’t need to pay that deductible so many occasions,” mentioned Espinosa, 46, including he would find yourself dropping cash if he have been pressured to change automobiles as a result of costs for the Mannequin Y have dropped since he purchased his Tesla three years in the past.
He hopes these offended at Musk go away individuals’s automobiles alone.
“I feel you must be capable of separate private property from that,” he mentioned. “The individuals who personal the property don’t have anything to do with what Elon did, and most of us purchased the automotive earlier than Elon went rogue.”
Eddie Zipperstein, proprietor of Richard’s Physique store in Albany Park, mentioned his retailer had serviced 4 vandalized Teslas within the final couple of months. The vandalism to these automobiles included harm from eggs and different thrown objects and one case by which a Tesla was rammed from behind.
Zipperstein, who owns a Cybertruck, says although his automobile hasn’t been focused, he sees individuals’s frustration’s when he’s on the road.
“I get the finger like actually as soon as a day, and it’s not as a result of I drive like an fool,” Zipperstein mentioned. He says he hopes individuals understand that “a automotive will not be a political assertion.”
Miguel H. mentioned he’s desirous about shopping for a sticker for the Mannequin Y he’s owned for 3 years to indicate he doesn’t assist Musk and to maintain his automotive secure, like many different Tesla drivers have carried out just lately. He suggests extra drivers do the identical.
Miguel, who requested his final identify be withheld for worry of changing into a goal, is a photographer and likewise drives for Uber. He says he’s observed extra individuals canceling rides on him just lately, and he thinks it’s as a result of riders can see on the app that he drives a Tesla.
Some passengers have instructed him they didn’t need to get in his automotive as a result of it’s a Tesla and made assumptions about him as an individual due to the automotive he drives.
As soon as they get in his automotive, he says, “They speak to me, they relax, they usually understand ‘Oh, he’s only a man,’” Miguel mentioned.
Although Miguel says he helps individuals’s proper to boycott and protest, he thinks vandalizing private property is counterproductive and might damage residents.
“Messing with individuals’s property will not be nice, particularly when the common individual goes by the identical struggles, troubles and tribulation that everybody else is,” he mentioned.
Contributing: Related Press
