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An expensive car is also a status symbol. But when the brand is inseparable from Elon's shitposting, it's not something to brag about any more.

• al_borland 2y ago
  I think the number of Uber drivers with Teslas makes it seem like less of a status symbol. A Model 3 or Y isn’t a flex. They start around $30k, which isn’t exactly luxury pricing. Making cars people can afford is a good thing, but once that happens, it stops being a status symbol.
  • cameldrv 2y ago
    It may not be a flex, but having an electric car is still a statement (less than it used to be, but still) that you're a high tech, forward thinking, environmentally conscious person. The problem is that now it's also a statement that you're a Trump supporter.
    • al_borland 2y ago
      Those 2 assumptions are at odds with each other. The Trump supporters I know don’t want anything to do with electric cars, and Trump was the one fighting for coal to remain viable, which is the exact opposite of environmentally conscious. Personally, I have never seen a Tesla and assumed the driver was a Trump supporter. The much bigger stereotype is that the left buys EVs. I don’t think many people are trading in their Cummings diesel 2500 truck for anything electric. The die hard Trump fans would be on Truth Social, not Twitter. They might like some stuff Elon is doing, but I don’t think they are going to give up their gas engines over him.