A new study indicates that Americans are growing less willing to purchase electric cars. While that’s not exactly breaking news, what the research team at Williams College found was that the collapse in purchase intention came almost entirely from liberal-identifying Americans, and in particular, those with unfavorable views of the Tesla’s mascot, CEO Elon Musk. In fact, antipathy to Musk is running so hot on the left that it’s dragging down desires to buy any EV, not just a Tesla. The man who popularized the battery-powered car in America is now unpopularizing it again.
The report, published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, breaks down five surveys that Williams College ran from August 2023 through March 2025, a period in which Musk at first seemed to be drifting rightward with his Twitter takeover, then formally endorsed Donald Trump, then brought his chainsaw to Washington. The team measured a variety of factors for each respondent, including political leanings, personal support for Musk, income, and willingness to engage in a variety of eco-friendly activities.
Interestingly, a willingness to buy an EV was the most politically polarized choice someone could make to help the environment. Versus liberals, conservatives were more likely to say they would get an electric heat pump, get solar panels for their home, and even eat less red meat than get a car that didn’t need fossil fuels. Yes, they’d rather give up steak than gas stations.
Conservatives hold constant, liberals nosedive
During this period, an American’s desire to buy a Tesla hasn’t changed much; for the most part, it’s highly correlated with how much that American personally likes Musk. It’s gotten a little bit worse lately with moderates and conservatives, where this relationship grew more correlated over time.
The big change, though, was in liberal Americans’ desire to purchase any EV at all. This used to track modestly with whether or not they liked Musk, but that correlation has veered sharply and is much starker today than it was just a year ago. In other words, liberals who like Musk (unicorns do exist) are about as likely to want an EV now as before, but liberals who don’t are radically less willing to buy any EV from any brand than they were last year.
As the report points out, Musk appears to have reduced liberal support for electric cars quite a bit but hasn’t been able to increase conservative interest at all. The latter are just about as likely to buy an EV now as they were before. Combined, that would predict for a decline in EV sales across the board, and, well, here we are.
It’s not about cost
In case you were curious, the research team did account for other factors, such as the respondent’s income. Could the drop in interest be due to the cost of the cars? However, they found that while a higher income does make someone generally more open to an EV, that didn’t explain for the pronounced partisan split between liberals, moderates, and conservatives. It also doesn’t explain why a like or dislike of Elon Musk would have such a strong correlation.
Apparently, the Tesla CEO has successfully tied his own personal brand to an entire category of vehicle. He’s torched that brand with the category’s biggest market. Ah well, at least Tesla itself is in great financial shape — oh. Oops.
