| | (Translated from German)
Tesla? No thank you!
New poll hammer for Elon Musk
From t-online, Mab
29.07.2025 - 16:34 o'clock
Reading time: 2 min
 
Tesla major shareholder Elon Musk: The multi-billionaire is a walking image damage for his own car brand. (Source: IMAGO/BONNIE CASH)
More and more e-drivers are satisfied with their car. But while a young brand is racing to the top, Tesla is going downhill.
Enthusiasm is growing – but not for everyone: Those who drive an electric car today are generally more satisfied than they were a year ago. This is shown by a new study by the market research institute Uscale among 5,000 drivers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The Net Promoter Score (NPS), which measures how many customers would recommend their car to others, rose from 24 points in 2024 to 33 out of 100.
Greater distances, faster charging – and increasing demands
The reason for the growing satisfaction lies in the models themselves: they have larger batteries, faster charging times and are more suitable for everyday use. Under good conditions, half of the drivers now achieve a real range of more than 400 kilometres. A year ago, it was just over a third.
But as progress grows, so do expectations. Satisfaction with the range drops slightly from 81 to 79 percent.
A similar picture can be seen with fast charging. 75 percent of cars now manage at least 150 kilowatts (in 2024 it was 61 percent). Nevertheless, only 65 percent rate the charging performance as "good" or "very good" – seven points less than in the previous year.
The number 1 comes from China
Xpeng beats Tesla: The Chinese manufacturer leads in terms of recommendation value.
The change is particularly evident when looking at individual brands. At the top is not Tesla, but the Chinese manufacturer Xpeng: 81 percent of its drivers would recommend their car to others. Porsche follows in second place with 78 percent.
Tesla, the former perennial favorite of many e-drivers, only lands in fifth place - and also stands out: 15 percent of customers advise against buying. This is significantly more than the so-called premium competition.
What's behind Tesla's crash?
Tesla Model 3 in the TÜV Report 2025: No other car performed worse - 111th place out of 111.
It's not just the strong rivals that are putting Tesla in trouble. Major shareholder Elon Musk himself, the defining face of the manufacturer, is also doing his part. His political escapades, his love for Trump – which has now cooled significantly – his excursions into the world of conspiracy theories: they scare away buyers and investors.
Product quality is also increasingly a cause for complaint. In the TÜV Report 2025, the Model 3 took last place with a defect rate of 14 percent – almost three times as much as the average of all vehicles in its age group. Problems occurred in particular with brakes, axles and lighting.
Bought "before Elon went crazy": Many Tesla drivers keep their distance. Others even sell their cars. (Source: IMAGO)
But Musk also makes mistakes economically. He lowered prices several times to boost sales - with fatal consequences: used Teslas lose value rapidly as a result. After all, who buys a used car when the new car costs almost as little?
As a result, Tesla drivers lost a lot of money – and trust. |
|
