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A Tesla dealership in Rome caught fire over the weekend, leaving behind the burned out husks of 17 of the vehicles. Police in Italy are investigating the fire as an act of arson. While one of his dealerships burned, Tesla CEO and shadow-president Elon Musk showed charts and graphs on stage in Wisconsin ahead of an election there. As Tesla literally burns, its CEO is everywhere but in the boardroom.
Digos, Italy’s anti-terrorism cops, are investigating the arson in Rome. In early conversations with the press, Digos said it’s possible that a group of anarchists set fire to the Teslas but nothing is confirmed. The fire department said that the blaze started around 4:30 a.m., destroyed 17 cars, and damaged the building where they were housed.
Musk’s relationship with Donald Trump is hurting his business, he’s admitted as much in weepy interviews on Fox News. While he stood on a stage and gave away cash prizes in Wisconsin, people gathered at Tesla dealerships in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. More than 150 people showed up at one anti-Musk gathering in Chicago. Three hundred were at a protest in Syracuse, New York. In a Boston suburb, 600 showed up to protest Musk. In Berlin, someone covered the front of a dealership in blue paint.
Tesla’s stock price has lost 50% of its value since December. It’s been up and down over the past few days but has not recovered anything approaching its pre-inauguration highs. It slipped again on Monday morning when trading started. First-quarter deliveries are expected to be way down, both because of Trump’s economic policies and Musk’s fading star.
Tesla’s brand is so bad that Alset Auto, a company that sells Tesla and Cybertruck wraps, is running an ad that capitalizes on the chaos. In the ad, an Alset employee fields several calls from Tesla owners looking to protect their cars from eggs, paint, and other damage. “Yes ma’am, ceramic coating will protect your Tesla’s paint from offensive graffiti but we can’t do anything about you getting the finger,” he says over footage of someone spray painting “FUCK ELON” on the car.”
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In the ad, another caller puts on a cowboy hat and sunglasses and stares wearily over their shoulder. “So you want us to limo-tint your windows so no one recognizes you driving it? Yeah, we can do that,” the worker says. He takes another call. “So you want us to make a custom bumper sticker that reads: ‘I knew Elon was nuts, but not this nuts. I’d sell my Tesla but it’s depreciated so much I have negative equity on my loan?’”
The fire in Rome isn’t the first one to sweep a Tesla dealership. A few weeks ago someone threw a Molotov cocktail at a Tesla facility in Las Vegas and damaged five of the vehicles then began shooting at some of the vehicles.
Days after the incident, the FBI announced it had created a task force to “crack down on Violent Tesla attacks.” FBI Director Kash Patel called the various incidents of vandalism and destruction of Tesla vehicles terrorism. “This is domestic terrorism. Those responsible will be pursued, caught, and brought to justice,” Patel said on March 24.
Patel and the FBI’s task force did nothing to diminish the anti-Musk protests over the weekend.