It may not look like a major uprising , but this is part of something huge.
This was Exeter’s first Tesla Takedown protest against Elon Musk’s assault on democracy and human rights in the US, and his wider support for the far right. On Saturday, 3 May, local activists including Devon-based Americans demonstrated outside the Tesla dealership and EV charging point on the Marsh Barton industrial estate – home to most of the city’s biggest car showrooms.
Tesla Takedown is an umbrella term for an international movement that encourages peaceful, legal protests against Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company. Tesla is the main source of the cash Musk uses to finance Donald Trump’s regime and support far-right politicians in other countries, including Reform UK. Tesla Takedown aims to drive down the value of Tesla stock and force the company into bankruptcy – or what Musk himself might term a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’, as he memorably described the explosion of his SpaceEx Starship rocket during its failed launch in 2023.
The Tesla Takedown website states: “There are so many reasons to stop Elon Musk, but these are the three most important: Musk funds authoritarian, far right parties across the globe; we want to preserve freedom and democracy. He supports climate deniers and fossil fuel exploiters; we want to save the planet. He uses Grok and X to spread lies and platform disinformation; we believe in truth.”
Anyone can create a Tesla Takedown event in their own town or city; the organisation is decentralised to local grassroots groups.
But it’s a large, and exponentially-growing, worldwide movement.
How Musk sabotaged his own brand
When a global brand becomes toxic – when it comes to represent a destructive, inhumane regime – its high international profile backfires spectacularly. As a result of Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn attacks on US government services, his trashing of equality and diversity rights and his smash-and-grab theft of US citizens’ personal data, the Tesla logo has become a symbol of the far right – a stylised representation of Musk’s famous ‘Hitler salute’, if you like. His products have been nicknamed ‘swasticars’ and the company’s showrooms all over the world have become focal points for protests against everything Musk and Trump stand for.
In just a few months the Tesla Takedown movement has spread right across the US, where there are regular demonstrations outside dealerships. The movement is also active in Australia, Canada and several European countries including Germany, France, Finland, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands.
It’s a car crash for Tesla, with global vehicle sales down by 13 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025. Tesla’s share price has also plummeted. Sales were already falling behind those of rival EV vehicle companies, notably strong competitors in China, but the brand’s popularity took a major dive after Musk bought his way into the US government and spear-headed the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which promptly fired more than 250,000 public service employees and hacked into the computer systems that manage health insurance payments to 140 million Americans. Perhaps Musk had accidentally taken a higher-than-usual dose of ketamine – which he uses to combat depression – when he effectively positioned his own business as the obvious protest target for all those Americans whose livelihoods and future health he had jeopardised.
‘A huge mobilisation of everyday Americans’
“The protests in the US are huge,” said N, one of the American organisers of the Exeter Tesla Takedown.
“But they started small, most of them were five or ten people to start with, and now those same rallies are 200 people every Saturday, and they are growing.
“The thing that is really interesting for me to see is the number of people who have never been to a protest before; they wouldn’t call themselves protesters, but they’re out there twice a month, every weekend, and all of a sudden you’re getting this huge mobilisation of what you’d call normal everyday Americans across party lines.”
In addition to Tesla Takedown, this mobilisation includes regular national demonstrations against the Trump administration, organised by the 50501 group (’50 protests, 50 states, one movement’). Thousands of people gather outside US state capitol buildings and city halls, campaigning to uphold the US constitution and ‘end executive over-reach’.
N said: “It crosses the political, social and economic strata; workers, workers’ unions, people who are on zero hours contracts are marching alongside university professors. You’re getting this unprecedented spectrum of people all out together.”
Americans in the UK want to speak out
N is originally from North Virginia, but has lived in the UK for about 20 years. She’s a member of the Exeter branch of Indivisible, an anti-fascist, pro-democracy movement set up in the US, comprising thousands of small local groups. In response to Trump’s re-election and the associated risks to UK democracy, Indivisible groups were formed in the UK and are working closely with Tesla Takedown.
We’re protecting N’s identity because of the Trump regime’s increased surveillance of political dissenters, and his threats to ‘go after’ them. UK-based Americans who oppose Trump are being advised to watch what they do and say online, including their emails and text messages, and to avoid any traceable involvement in anti-Trump activism – particularly if they plan to visit the US any time in the near future.
But Americans in the UK, and here in Devon, want to speak out. They want us to know that they’re appalled, angry and terrified by the ascendancy of Donald Trump and Elon Musk in the US, and to warn us that a similar pattern of events is now unfolding in the UK and Europe.
N said: “What’s scary for me is that people here tend not to know that it’s happening, they think it’s an American problem – but now that Musk’s involved you can see him pop up in different places around the world – supporting (the far-right populist party) AFD in Germany, for example.
“Most people that I talk to here don’t have a clue, they don’t have any contacts in the States – but I get a lot of information from people back home about what’s going on, and I feel like I’m steeped in this network of information. So I am really concerned.
“And with the local elections here on May 1, when Reform UK made major sweeps – that’s very frightening.”
P L, another American who lives in Devon, is also a member of Indivisible, and helped organise and promote the Exeter protest.
She said: “I felt the demo was important as a show of national unity in the Tesla Takedown network of events. An excellent group of local activists showed up, including two from Cornwall, two from Plymouth, one from Totnes and two from Newton Abbot.
“I think the other dealerships were bemused. The Ford showroom rep came over to enquire about what we were doing. The traffic into the Supercharger forecourt for rapid EV Tesla charges did notice what was going on and we got several approving toots and thumbs-ups. Not many from Tesla drivers … but a few. There didn’t seem to be any Tesla new/used car shoppers while we were there.
“My reasons for doing this can be summed up in two short quotes.
“One: ‘Nobody voted for this guy’, regarding Musk’s destructive hacker movements (DOGE) into American government agencies’ staffing and decision making, overriding Congressional mandates and databases. He wants to infiltrate UK politics as well with backing Reform UK–who knows if he helped some candidates’ chances in the local elections on May 1?
And: ‘Good people don’t heil, full stop.’ That ‘speech’ is not simply the exercise of free speech, it’s radicalised hate doctrine — it’s propaganda targeting those open to disinformation tactics.”
Further protests in Exeter planned
This won’t be the only Tesla Takedown in Exeter – it’s just the start. It’s also a sign that the UK movement, which began in London and other large cities, is now spreading into smaller and more rural locations.
The organisers say they’re planning further protests at the Exeter dealership, and have also heard from groups in rural areas of Wales and Scotland who have been inspired to stage their own demonstrations after hearing that Exeter has joined the movement.
“These are links in the chain that builds a national network,” said N.
It’s not just about the demonstrations and the boycotting of Tesla vehicles, either. Campaigners can encourage their employers and pension fund managers to get rid of any shares they hold in the company. They can also lobby Octopus Energy, which has partnered with Tesla to lease some of its vehicles and promote its Powerwall batteries for solar installations. Customers can threaten to change their supplier, pointing out that a ‘green energy’ company shouldn’t be doing business with Musk, who supports climate crisis deniers and helps to fund Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’ fossil fuel extractions. Potential Octopus customers can bow out for the same reasons.
Users of Uber taxis can make a stand by refusing to book journeys in Tesla cars, which are leased by many Uber drivers through a partnership with Hertz.
A reality check for Elon Musk
The beauty of all this is that it’s way out of Elon Musk’s control, which is something of a new experience for him. He can’t ‘disappear’ the Tesla Takedown protests by manipulating social media – because they’re taking place in plain sight at hundreds of his own prominently located and branded Tesla sites across the US and around the world. Attempts to dismiss them as fake news or AI-generated images won’t wash, when people can see (and join) the demonstrations in their own town or city.
As a last resort Musk has claimed – without any evidence – that the protests are being funded by his political enemies and Democrat donors George Soros and Reid Hoffman. Exactly the kind of response you’d expect from someone who bought his own way into politics – and completely missing the point. You might notice that Musk and Trump having a habit of accusing others of the very things they routinely do themselves. They assume everyone is as corrupt as they are.
Also very annoying for Musk is the fact that he can’t tweak an algorithm to send his Tesla sales figures soaring upwards like a more successful version of his Starship rocket. He may be able to wield huge influence online, but sales revenue is the bottom line. Neither can he activate an army of bots to boost the price of his stock. (Yes, there are AI-based trading bots, but they’re programmed to analyse market trends and pinpoint the most profitable shares – bad luck there, Elon).
No, the Tesla Takedown is a real-life phenomenon, powered by real people. It’s an outpouring of honest, deeply felt and justified anger, provoked by actual events rather than online propaganda. We’re not talking about the momentary flicker of attention needed to click ‘like’ or share’ on a social media post before scrolling on down to the next distraction. Compare that with the time, effort and commitment involved in organising and staging a protest. Then consider the fact that Tesla Takedown protests are taking place regularly – every two weeks in some US locations – and increasingly in other countries. That’s not some flash-in-the-pan, knee-jerk reaction to a passing trend – this is serious stuff. Cause and effect.
It’s a long overdue reality check for Musk -and a reminder for all of us that actions speak louder than words.
For further information about the Tesla Takedown movement, and to download campaign materials, visit www.teslatakedown.co.uk. To find out more about Tesla Takedown protests and campaigns in Devon, email indivisibleexeter@proton.me.
