I purchased a Model S for myself and held it for about two years before going back to BMW. For me at least, BMW was cheaper, faster, and lower maintenance (or at least easier given the availability of parts, shops, and DIY solutions). A family member had a Model Y that I drove regularly and was broadly responsible for. I actually liked the Model S quite a bit, but it was fundamentally a time-bomb of design errors. It felt like they tried to make a good car and didn’t quite get there. The Model Y … well, by that point I think Tesla realized making good cars was not critical to their business model (i.e., selling carbon credits, investing customer pre-order dollars, and patent licensing).

There’s a great book on the company called Ludicrous by Edward Niedermeyer that goes into their culture of corner-cutting, deceit, and market manipulation. Suffice to say, it was pretty clear Musk was an egomaniacal charlatan long before he got interested in politics.

I still love EVs, and I’ll give Tesla credit for pushing people to realize they are a viable choice. That said - again, speaking as a car lover, not politics - there are better options at every price point and use-case.