When she purchased a new Tesla Model Y in November of 2023, the Westport woman was pleased.
She no longer had to buy gas. It was easy to maintain. The cost was only about $40,000.
“It was a no-brainer,” the woman — who asked that her name not be used — says.
Tesla Model Y
As he joined the Trump administration, the woman knew that Elon Musk — Tesla’s CEO — was “a potential danger as a human being.” But, she says, “I never thought he’d have as much power as he does.”
In the first days after the inauguration, she says, “I joked, ‘I gotta get rid of this car.’ But as he ramped up his slash-and-burn, I didn’t want to be attached to him in any way. He’s evil.”
Three weeks ago, she found a Hyundai Tucson hybrid. She sold her Tesla.
Hyundai Tucson
Worldwide, owners are talking about selling their Musk-related automobiles. This is one local woman who actually did.
“I don’t want to make a grand statement,” she insists. “I just wanted to feel better.”
No one ever said anything to her about her Tesla. No one flipped her off, or keyed her car.
Still, she says, “I didn’t want to become a target. I didn’t want controversy. There shouldn’t be controversy about the car you drive.”
But something else about her Tesla made her uneasy, beyond the company CEO’s actions she loathes.
Beginning in December, her Tesla’s menu of radio stations and podcasts suddenly changed.
There — sprinkled among her presets and favorites — were options like Ben Shapiro, Sean Hannity and “Fox & Friends.”
She found the sudden appearance of right-wing shows “creepy. It can’t be a coincidence.”
The Westporter is happy with her Hyundai. It recharges itself. She can go 400 miles on a tank of gas.
Yet if she had a chance to meet Elon Musk, and talk face to face, what would she say?
“I just want him to stay in his lane,” she says.
“He’s a smart guy. He’s good with technology. But he’s been given so much power, because he gave Trump so much money.
“Why can’t he just stick with what he’s good at?”
(“06880” is “where Westport meets the world” — politically, automotively, and in every other way. If you enjoy this hyper-local blog, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)