Jennifer Tran and her husband, Eric Griffin, love their Tesla.

They feel good about the environmental impact of an electric vehicle and have fun driving the white Model Y.

Since making the purchase in 2020, they’ve made regular use of many of the car’s features, including dog mode. When running errands, the setting allows them to leave their Plott hound, Olli, and their golden retriever mix, Roo, in the car with the temperature controlled. A message on the dashboard screen alerts passersby that the pups are safe inside.

But despite all these perks, the Bryn Mawr couple has felt increasingly uncomfortable behind the wheel of their beloved EV.

These feelings began to percolate when Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly disowned his transgender daughter in July. They escalated when Musk, who has become the right-hand man to President Donald Trump, did a gesture many have linked to a Nazi salute at an Inauguration Day rally, an action Tran said she viewed as unacceptable.

“We try to really put our dollars into companies where our values really align,” said Tran, a 41-year-old marketing consultant. “If it were today, we wouldn’t go out and buy a Tesla.”

But the couple shares the paid-off car, spending $0 on gas. If they sold it, she said, they’d take a loss, and then have to start making payments on another electric vehicle.

Cars also are expected to get more expensive soon: Trump on Wednesday announced that a 25% tariff on foreign cars and imported auto parts will go into effect April 3. Some experts say the price of a new vehicle will increase by several thousand dollars on average. Tesla is expected to be less impacted — the cars they sell in the U.S. are made in California and Texas.

When Tran and Griffin were talking about whether to keep their Tesla, they also considered the moral implications.

If sold, “the car isn’t going to disappear,” Tran said. “It’s going to go on a car lot” and eventually be bought by someone else, someone who may embrace Musk’s views.

So for now, Tran and Griffin will keep driving the car, with their “I bought this before Elon went crazy” bumper sticker proudly displayed on the back. They bought the decal on Etsy in January, after Musk’s salute.

Tesla owners across the U.S. feel torn

Tesla owners across the region and the country have faced a dilemma in recent months as Musk has become an increasingly public — and highly divisive — figure in the Trump administration.

Musk helped Trump win the presidency for the second time, donating at least $288 million to the Republican’s campaign, according to the Washington Post. After Trump took office, Musk was named to an unelected post as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has taken unprecedented steps to slash spending by laying off federal workers and dismantling government agencies.

Among progressives, many of whom were first attracted to the car for environmental reasons, there has been a growing movement to sell the vehicles, with celebrities like Sheryl Crow and Jason Bateman leading the way. Some drivers like Tran are keeping their cars, but outfitting them with an array of anti-Musk stickers that have taken off online. Others are de-badging their vehicles, or removing the Tesla insignia and replacing it with another automaker’s.

Tesla’s stock has fallen sharply since the start of the year, though it rose slightly earlier this month after Trump touted the cars at a White House news conference. Sales are down worldwide, especially in Europe.

Tesla dealerships, including in Cherry Hill and Devon, have been sites of demonstrations against the company. Last Saturday, hundreds protested outside the Cherry Hill showroom, according to NJ.com, with another planned for this Saturday.

There has been more violent backlash, too. Teslas have been set on fire at dealerships in attacks that Attorney General Pam Bondi called “domestic terrorism.” Some vehicle owners, fearful that they’ll be the next targets, asked Musk to send out a software update to deter vandalism. Last week, some Tesla owners’ names, addresses, and other contact information was published in an online map, alongside dealership addresses and an image of a Molotov cocktail.

Last weekend in Cherry Hill, Tesla drivers reported being harassed by a man in a red Acura, according to 6abc.

Tesla, which still holds the largest market share of the U.S. EV market, did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Philly driver sees her Tesla as ‘a great car,’ despite Musk

Jen Ragen has a simple reason she still drives her Tesla.

“Because I work hard for my money,” she said, “and it’s a great car.”

Since 2014, the Northeast Philadelphia resident has owned four Teslas, including her current vehicle, a red model 3, and the white model Y that her husband primarily drives.

Ragen said she separates the CEO from the company’s 100,000-plus employees and its history as an American success story.

“Unfortunately, all we know now is the CEO,” said Ragen, who works in affordable housing. “I watched him go from a motivating leader who took great risks in investing money in a potentially failing endeavor, and I saw him lead a very unlikely success story.”

But now, she added, “this leader became a villain, for lack of a better word.”

She said she was disappointed to see Musk align with the Republican Party, which she sees as the “antithesis of climate protection.” To express her disagreement, she bought a bumper sticker of her own that reads: “Love the car, not the CEO.”

She said she has not experienced any hate while driving her Tesla, but her husband recently had a woman slow down, pull beside him, make direct eye contact, and flip him off, despite the pair having had no interactions on the roadway.

Ragen hopes the Tesla board cuts ties with Musk, she said, so the company can “endure beyond his involvement in it.”

Either way, she said, she’ll keep driving Teslas. A couple months ago, she test drove other electrical vehicles, she said, but none compared.

For the past 11 years, her decision to invest in the then-fledging Tesla company has been worth it — “every minute of every day,” she said.

“It’s fast. It’s responsive,” Ragen said. “It drives like a sports car and requires absolutely zero drops of gas.”

Since buying her black Tesla Model 3 a year ago, Louise Aka Ezoua said the thought of selling the car — or even putting an anti-Musk sticker on it — has never crossed her mind.

”I’m trying to separate the person from the car,” said the 34-year-old Feasterville resident. “I like the car itself. I’m not happy with the person who made it.”

Aka Ezoua, a nurse practitioner and real estate agent, said she doesn’t believe selling her Tesla would change Musk’s behavior or impact him financially.

”He’s already gotten my money,” she said. But “I’m talking to other people, people who are considering buying it and haven’t given him the money, (and telling them) to not go forward with it.”

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