Tesla recently announced a price drop on its vehicles to help address falling demand and increased competition from other electric vehicle manufacturers. Tesla was once the only real name in town for luxury electric cars, but brands like Ford and GM have quickly closed the gap with high-quality models that offer fully electric drive trains.
While newcomers love the lower prices of Tesla vehicles, early adopters are understandably angry that they very recently paid more for cars that are now several thousand dollars cheaper. Buyers on social media have aired out their frustrations, noting that if they had waited a few weeks, they could have saved a ton of money and are now just stuck with the higher costs.
Price Cuts
Tesla slashed its prices in mid-January, cutting the costs of its EVs by as much as 20% in some cases. Analysts say this is a huge shift in the American electric car market, as Tesla is seen as a leading company in the field. “Tesla’s price cut was a major blow to the prospects of competing EV models and the Mustang Mach-E directly competes with Tesla’s Model Y,” explains CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson.
The move actually led to other manufacturers cutting their EV prices, too. “Ford just cut Mustang EV prices in response to Tesla’s price cut. Mini price war about to begin with EVs in the US with Tesla’s shot across the bow on price cuts,” says Wedbush writer Dan Ives. And while competing EV manufacturers might be angry with the move, they’re not alone. Apparently, some Tesla owners are less than enthusiastic about this change.
Early Adopters Furious
You don’t need to look far on social media to see early Tesla adopters angry about the price cuts. Tesla doesn’t use a yearly model like most manufacturers, and its cars’ prices have remained somewhat stable over the years. Some outlets have reported that the price slashing has led to the average cost of a used Tesla dropping by some 26% in the past few months.
Many early adopters who purchased a Tesla in the past year or so have found many reasons to get frustrated with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He recently purchased the social media company Twitter, which led to some analysts fearing he’d scale back on his involvement with Telsa. Meanwhile, the company’s stock price has dropped precipitously as investors worry that the bloom is off the rose with Tesla.
