Opinions vary on whether billionaire Elon Musk should buy Twitter, but his ultimate decision may have little bearing on enthusiastic Tesla owners, including one buyer who is in love with his new white 2022 Tesla Model S.
“I haven’t met Elon Musk, but I think the guy’s a genius,” said the Virginia-based Tesla owner in an interview recently as the Twitter controversy swirled markets globally. “I also think he has integrity going for him. Other billionaires are not on the same platform.”
As for buying Twitter, “I don’t even really know what Twitter is,” the Tesla owner added. “I think Musk should buy it and throw it in the trash along with Facebook and others like it that have caused so many problems.”
Musk, the founder and CEO of Tesla and other ventures, on May 13 put his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter “temporarily on hold” pending more details on spam accounts. Some experts speculated he was trying to renegotiate for a lower price with tech stocks generally down amid market disarray in recent weeks.
Tesla shares were $766.27 May 13, down 25% over the prior month. Musk also tweeted May 13 he was still committed to the acquisition. By June 3 the stock had dropped to $735. The stock hit a recent bottom of $628 on May 24.
The sleek Model S is the third Tesla for the Virginia owner who asked his name and image not be used in an article because of the business he works in.
Most owners of Teslas are techies or into the green movement, this man surmised, but his personal rationale for buying his first Tesla in 2020 was out of curiosity which quickly melded into a fondness for their performance and efficiency. “There’s nothing that compares with it,” he said, noting its pronounced torque when pulling easily into a freeway lane from the access ramp.
As for the car’s ability to provide some driver assist features, he said he’s not ready to take his hands off the steering wheel. “I’m skeptical and old school and used to holding my hands at 10 and 2. With the new half steering wheel, you can’t even do it,” he said.
He gives Tesla high marks for customer service but wishes his Tesla repair shop were closer by. He lives in a mostly rural area nearly two hours from the biggest cities.
It did take 13 months to get the car he first ordered in February 2021 for more than $87,000. By the time it arrived in March 2022, the online price had jumped to $102,000, but Tesla honored the original price and still delivered him a 2022 model with its normal upgrades. The only problem: the car arrived without floor mats, a possible victim of global supply chain snafus.
Charging an EV is a new experience for first-time buyers, but this owner has gotten used to it. He relies on a typical 110-volt outlet in his garage and charges overnight to get 12 to 15 miles added. For big charge-ups, he has to drive to a supercharging station at a normal gas station five miles away where a full charge might take 20-30 minutes. His battery range was supposed to be 410 miles, but because he upgraded to premium wheels his range was knocked back to 385. “A truly green person won’t get the good wheels,” he said with a laugh.
Based on driving mostly rural areas of Virginia, charging stations appear to be about 30 miles apart, and a mapping service on his dashboard tells him where the stations are located. “I never get down too low,” he added.
He mused about whether it would be better to have a hybrid so he would not have to worry if a charging station were close by where he could fill up on gasoline. “But even a gas engine doesn’t have a backup,” he noted.
Meanwhile, many on Twitter on Friday assessed Musk’s bid for Twitter now put on hold, even bringing Tesla and politics over EVs into the mix.
CopperStateDemocrat@rob_voreck castigated Musk for pausing the Twitter deal, arguing Musk never intended to buy Twitter and has bid on it for all the media attention. “Sure, he’ll have to pay a $1 billion termination fee, but his media coverage as a result has been incalculable and will continue on indefinitely in the future as a result,” the tweet added.
Another post by AngryMongo suggested Musk was using Tesla stock as leverage to buy Twitter, which has failed because Tesla’s stock has “s--- the bed” and now Musk can’t find any investors to front the cost.
“Those who own Tesla stock should start a class action lawsuit against you for this stunt gone wrong,” tweeted Jodie.
Others on Twitter theorized his bid to buy Twitter was connected to an attempt to get in the good graces of conservatives who buy his cars now and to nudge Republican-led states to allow him to sell Teslas where they are not now allowed because of dealer requirements.
To some on Twitter, the Musk offer to buy Twitter and his recent conservative leanings have an even more direct connection to the Tesla brand and EV sales. “I’ve always thought his pivot to the right has always been to get in good graces with the right, for the purpose of converting them into EV customers,” tweeted TJ.
For the record, Tesla has about 70% of the EV market in the U.S. according to Experian based on registration data. The company produced 930,000 EVs in 2021 and delivered 936,00 vehicles around the world.
Some on Twitter actually agree with the Model S owner about Musk’s ingenuity, while stopping short of calling him a genius. “Have you seen some of the things he’s done? There’s actually a car company he and his team created [with cars] that run on electricity!” tweeted Angela@sylvanis13 who tacked on a little rainbow icon to boost the love.
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