Oh Tesla, my Tesla! Elon Musk has N.J. drivers fearing for their safety — and their image

Tesla stickers in N.J.
An "Eco Friendly Not Elon Friendly" bumper sticker on a vehicle in Jersey City, NJ, on May 16, 2025. Drivers around the state have added similar stickers to their Teslas amid political criticism levied against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.Steven Rodas | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

She could hear the judgment dripping through the phone when her brother texted her.

“You guys are getting rid of your Tesla, aren’t you?”

Jill Aquino’s stomach had already been in knots over her once beloved Model S – the car she uses to commute from Frankford Township to her nursing job in New York; the one she felt so free in while cruising down the Parkway on that summer trip to Cape May; the one that used to be a totally progressive political statement.

“I felt very proud to drive a Tesla when we first purchased one … (F)or me and my husband it was all about the environment,” she said, reminiscing about the days when plugging in at an EV charging station felt like wearing a T-shirt with a big, smiling blue donkey on it.

But a Tesla owner as the sweetheart of the Democratic Party? That’s so two years ago.

“I said to my brother, I said, ‘I’m really struggling with this,’” Aquino told NJ Advance Media. “I feel very strongly about Tesla’s support of the environment and that’s why we got one and what they do to help the climate. And yet, I’m driving a vehicle that is the, you know, brainchild of Elon Musk.”

Musk — the political shape-shifter at the center of this — has made it really tough for green-minded Dems like Aquino. He still heads Tesla, but his role as leader of Republican President Donald Trump‘s controversial Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, up until this past week has become yet another microcosm of the identity crisis Democrats are facing — whose views are en vogue right now? How fast is that changing? And, can the party land on solid ground in the tug-of-war between liberal social issues, the economy, the environment, and its ever-evolving reactions to Trump?

The cultural in-fighting plaguing Democrats on the national and statewide stage is now playing out in parking lots and at charging ports up and down the Turnpike. And it’s not just an identity crisis — it’s turned violent and threatening. Own a now backward-minded Tesla? Watch out, your headlights or windows could be at risk, or worse. And all of the escalated (sometimes physical) feuding over Teslas between factions of liberals is seemingly at odds with the party’s progressive values.

For Jill — who dropped about $60,000 on a brand new Tesla in 2014, when it was cool to do so — she’s left with an internal conflict, and a pricey investment sitting in her driveway every night.

“Sheryl Crow, she got rid of her Tesla," Aquino quipped, joking but not really.

“Certain people can. They have the luxury to do that, you know what I mean? We don’t have the luxury to just get rid of a car and just buy another car.”

‘I don’t want my tires punctured’

Tesla drivers in N.J.
Norris Chumley, 68, attached a sign to the window of his Tesla amid political criticism levied against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The sign reads: “I don’t like or support Elon Musk. I got this car before Trump and Musk. Please do not vandalize my car!” Chumley, of New York, often visits New Jersey for work and to visit family in Madison.Steven Rodas | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Specks of rain hit the Tesla’s windshield in Cranbury, but Norris Chumley wasn’t worried about the fog making his message hard to read — he used red font on a white background.

“I don’t like or support Elon Musk,” his window sign says. “I got this car before Trump and Musk. Please do not vandalize my car!”

The note’s defiant tone contrasted with the happy-go-lucky Chumley behind the wheel. Bracelets jangling on his wrist, a white beard, light blue button-up and warm smirk welcome a chat.

“I‘ve had it on for 12 hours,” Chumley recently told NJ Advance Media about the homemade placard.

The 68-year-old was making a pit stop at the Molly Pitcher Service Area off the Turnpike, taking a break to dig into some waffle fries.

“I don’t want my tires punctured,” he said, as if brainstorming more window sign candidates. “I don’t want my glass shattered. I don’t want graffiti on my car. I make car payments, and I can’t afford to repair my car.”

That’s not a stretch.

Nationwide, including in New Jersey, Tesla drivers have been victims of threats and harassment. Teslas have been scratched and vandalized with messages that include the words “Nazi” and “fascist.” A man was charged after allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Oregon and the FBI responded after a charging dock from the company was damaged in Washington.

People have boycotted Tesla worldwide.

Liberal anti-Muskers have held protests at dealerships in Paramus and Springfield. In the last several months, demonstrations outside the Tesla showroom in Cherry Hill have become a bi-weekly occurrence, local authorities said.

Toward the end of March, police got calls that someone was aggressively pursuing Tesla owners. One man even pulled up close to a Tesla driver to harass him and began shouting the f-word, the man told 6ABC.

Cherry Hill Police Captain Sheldon Bryant called the chaotic exchange an “outlier.”

Checking police records, the captain confirmed no other incident like it was reported since January or in the months after the back-and-forth, which resulted in a traffic summons for reckless driving and fines that could be north of $300.

The rarity of the incident in South Jersey didn’t make it less worrisome, police noted.

“I think it’s a unique circumstance with what’s going on right now,” Bryant said on the phone. “I’m not aware of any person or group being targeted because of what kind of vehicle they drive. That’s something ... I’ve been here for 18 years, I never really remember anything along those lines.”

The police captain said he recommends Tesla drivers park in public well-lit areas, and not dark hidden-away ones where vandalism might happen. He also encouraged drivers to report issues as soon as possible (lest they be part of a trend) and use their Tesla’s security features.

Police opted not to comment on whether drivers should consider placing stickers on their windows, but some said they’re steering clear of that idea.

“If I‘m driving in New York City, everybody may support that,” said Artem Kosilov, a 27-year-old driver recently navigating the Turnpike toward his logistics warehousing company in Delaware.

‘But when I drive (to) some other state with that kind of sticker, people will have different opinions. ... (Y)ou’re just drawing a lot of unnecessary attention.”

Musk’s MAGA fallout

It’s far from the first time politics and purse strings have been linked. Think anything from the Disney boycott in the 1990s because the company allowed a “Gay Pride Day.” Or the more recent call by MAGA supporters to boycott Ben & Jerry’s over the ice cream makers’ progressive activist efforts.

But even for Daniel Bowen, a professor of political science at The College of New Jersey, the great debate over Tesla is without precedent.

“What’s unique about this situation is that cars are really expensive. So you have people who are spending $75,000, $90,000 on a car ... they cannot just go out and replace that car in many cases, right?” Bowen said.

“I don’t know if you know anyone who expected Musk to go from CEO of Tesla ... to really a poster boy of the Trump administration,” he said. “That move happened really quickly ... most public CEOs try not to publicly antagonize people they want to buy their products.”

Before Trump’s second term, Musk’s politics could be described as somewhat split. He has supported Democrats, including donating to both Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ahead of their 2008 presidential primaries. After months leading DOGE, Musk this week said he would be ending his government work and instead focus more on his companies. Still, some staffers from DOGE remain in place and the department continues.

But while he was once a Trump skeptic, in recent years he’s sidled up to the Republican president.

But the political wind shifts since Musk began supporting Trump do seem to be affecting Tesla’s sales.

Between January and March, Tesla reported 336,681 global vehicle deliveries. The same period last year saw about 387,000 sales, marking a 13% drop, according to market analysts.

After a peak in December 2024, Tesla’s stock also plummeted to $221.86 by early May 2025 — a 43% decrease over five months, according to AInvest.

There’s no clear picture of Tesla‘s local monthly sales nor company stats broken down by state.

New Jersey has at least 219,000 total registered electric vehicles on the road as of December 2024, the most recent estimates show. Four of the top 10 “clean cars” on roadways here are Teslas, according to the state’s electric vehicle database.

Tesla spokespeople did not respond for comment on various questions, including Tesla sales in New Jersey.

To date, there are more than 1,000 Tesla supercharger ports in New Jersey. More EV chargers are in the works statewide.

But we’re far from the days when plug-in convenience was the only thing on a potential EV-buyer’s mind.

“We’re at a time in American politics where our partisan identities are strong,” Bowen, who teaches politics at TCNJ, said. “What does it mean to be a good Republican or a good Democrat? Well, right now for the Democratic side, it might mean not buying a Tesla because buying a Tesla is sending a symbolic political statement…”

Chumley — the Turnpike driver who was on his way to Florida for work earlier this month — is surely thinking about what Musk has already wrought.

The sign on his Tesla makes it clear.

And wanting it or not, he recently got some attention for his personal PSA.

A stranger drove right up to him.

“Someone pulled over and honked their horn and said ‘Are you the Tesla with the sign?’ I said, ‘Yes, yes I am,’” Chumley said, pausing for their response.

“I support you,” the stranger finally told Chumley.

The Tesla driver smiled and headed south, toward Cape May, Delaware and the Carolinas.

Tesla drivers in N.J.
Norris Chumley, 68, attached a sign to the window of his Tesla amid political criticism levied against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The sign reads: “I don’t like or support Elon Musk. I got this car before Trump and Musk. Please do not vandalize my car!” Chumley, of New York, often visits New Jersey for work and to visit family in Madison.Steven Rodas | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Steven Rodas

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Steven Rodas may be reached at srodas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @stevenrodas.bsky.social.

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