A flurry of protests at Tesla dealerships across the United States erupted over the weekend as part of a wider “Tesla Takedown” movement, rallying against billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his controversial efforts to slash government spending through the so-called department of government efficiency (DOGE).
CNN reports that demonstrators gathered at more than 50 Tesla showrooms across the country, while the movement’s own Bluesky social media account claimed over 100 events had been organised for Sunday.
Protests have also sprung up overseas, with reports of protests in Barcelona, London, Lisbon, and Reykjavik.
The protests are aiming to inspire people and businesses to take action against Tesla, encouraging people to “sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines.”
Among those involved in organising the protests is Alex Winter, a Los Angeles-based actor and filmmaker, most well-known as playing Bill S. Preston Esq. in the 1989 film Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and its sequels.
“Creating a vote of no confidence in [Elon Musk] from the shareholders, that would be the ultimate goal,” Winter told CNN.
“Detaching Musk from Tesla would be a meaningful blow against this administration and its prerogatives, because it would be a strike against what they hold most dear: money and power,” Winter wrote in a recent article for Rolling Stone.
A number of people have been arrested in connection with the US protests, including nine who were arrested on Saturday outside a New York City Tesla dealership, where more than 300 people reportedly protested. There have also been reports of people gaining entry and conducting sit-in protests at Tesla showrooms.
Elon Musk & DOGE
The protests follow in the wake of Elon Musk’s rapid political rise alongside returned US president Donald Trump. Musk donated a total of $US288 million to help elect Donald Trump and other Republican candidates in November’s US election, granting him unprecedented access not only to the US president himself, but to the federal government in the process.
Since Trump’s inauguration, DOGE – under the leadership of Elon Musk and a raft of unqualified lackies, many of which boast ties to Musk’s own companies – has taken a wrecking ball to the federal government, and sought to disband several agencies.
But Musk has also been criticised for his support of far-right political movements, and his threats against members of the judiciary and the media over the decisions and articles they have made.
In Europe and elsewhere, sales of Tesla EVs have fallen significantly. Musk supporters still insist it is only because of inventory levels and consumers waiting for the new Model Y, but most analysts, including Schmidt Automotive, say that Musk is having a “toxic” impact on consumer sentiment that is causing buyers to look elsewhere.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.