Tesla drivers are no longer world improvers…

With amazement, I watched the interview of Elon Musk and Donald Trump on X. An unfortunate engagement, I think, that does Tesla no good. I remember it like it was yesterday: years ago, I did an interview with a blog that wanted to popularize EV driving. They were shocked by my statement that I found a Tesla to be an immoral car. I didn’t think that because of the car or the technology, but because of all the subsidies at the time. No additional tax, KIA, MIA, and what other financial incentives there were. Moreover, the car even came with free charging. You were practically a loser if you didn’t buy a Tesla…

I’d rather (have) pay(ed) taxes for people who genuinely need support than for the subsidized Tesla driver.

At that time, and I still am, I was amazed at how easily the government gives away ‘money’ without any real reason. Yes, they can check a box because something is being done for the environment, but that you could develop facilities for the disabled with the same money, for which there was no budget, I found and still find immoral. I’d rather pay taxes for people who genuinely need support than for the subsidized Tesla driver.

Tesla is simply a good car…

There was, by the way, nothing to argue against such a Tesla. My brother had an X, and that car drives well, charges well, and the infotainment is one of the best on the market. The hardware isn’t the issue, but the sanctification of Musk and Tesla, I didn’t care much for. Look, what Musk does in business is brilliant. The man is the best at turning crazy plans into great companies. He doesn’t do it just once, but repeatedly. Think of PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX, and Starlink, to name a few.

Sustainability as a USP

I’ve seen many companies proudly announce in their sustainability reports on annual accounts and websites that they drive Teslas and therefore lead in their sustainability ambitions. Everyone can make their own choices, of course; I don’t care much for sustainability as a USP. And now, that Tesla mention is coming back like a boomerang.

Because an entrepreneur with so much influence who takes a convicted criminal, rapist, and fraudulent ex-president seriously is at least laughable. Musk is no environmental savior. The emissions from his rockets make the savings from his cars pale in comparison. Moreover, with Trump, you have the biggest denier of everything related to the environment. But all this is not even the biggest problem. Associating yourself with an immoral person, bankrupt in terms of decent behavior of a normal human being, mostly says something about the image that Musk and Tesla apparently have of the world and us.

So, chapeau to Dirk Rossmann, founder of a drugstore chain and billionaire, who has banned Tesla from his fleet. I don’t think he’ll be the only one. You can have a technically superior product, but if the company or the owner is immoral, I’m out. And with me, probably many others. We’ll see.