REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
- Tesla owners are growing weary of Musk's antics and think he's damaging the brand.
- But they'll buy his cars anyway, a new survey from Bloomberg shows.
- Despite the Twitter debacle and Musk's polarizing way of doing things, they love the Model 3.
Elon Musk's politics haven't earned him any brownie points with his customers — but Tesla buyers are mostly still loyal to his cars, especially the Model 3.
Despite the many controversies surrounding Musk regarding his Twitter purchase, sentiments around climate change, and proximity to polarizing figures, none of that has substantially impacted Musk's buyers' loyalty to his vehicles themselves, according to a new Bloomberg survey.
Bloomberg just reconducted a survey of 7,000 verified Tesla owners in 2019 about the automaker itself, the Tesla EV ownership experience, and opinions of Musk. Four years later, thousands of the original survey's respondents provided updated feedback to the revisited study.
The responses Tesla owners had with regard to Musk ranged from "Elon is a true visionary and a talented industrialist" to "In some ways he has been a real ass, which is sad. But I like him anyway."
Some Tesla owners voiced concerns about the CEO that echoed what others told Insider, including: "Dude is a clown," "Obviously he's both brilliant and a very loose cannon," "Brilliant industrialist. Idiot human," and "I am somewhat embarrassed to be seen driving a Tesla." Responses suggested "It's time for him to step down from Tesla."
But luckily for Musk, his often-divisive way of doing things hasn't greatly impacted owner satisfaction with Tesla vehicles.
Model 3 satisfaction
Of Model 3 owners who sold their cars and replaced them with something else, 21.5% said it was due to their disapproval of Elon Musk, while 18.7% referred to concerns about quality or service. Still, a majority of owners especially touted the Model 3's tech and experience, with owners giving it high praise in performance, ease of use, design, and reliability.
The Model 3 received a near-perfect score for driving enjoyment, according to Bloomberg, and over-the-air updates won Tesla high ratings for features such as the sound system, navigation, and keyless entry.
Interestingly, despite a Reuters investigation published Thursday that alleged the company "rigged" dashboard readings that indicated its vehicles' range and thwarted customer complaints about mileage, Tesla owners reported being largely satisfied with the battery range overall, the range in the cold, and the car's performance in ice and snow.
Tesla did receive some negative feedback with regard to customer service, Bloomberg found.
Self-driving tech performance
Tesla owners surveyed by Bloomberg who were beta testers of the automaker's Full Self-Driving technology generally said it did a good job stopping at stop signs and lights, avoiding pedestrians and cyclists, and avoiding road obstacles. But the tech ranked much lower when it came to navigating construction zones and turning into traffic at uncontrolled intersections, with some calling it "unusable," "an over-promised money grab," "party trick, total rip off," and "the closest thing to fraud."
Drivers reported common Autopilot problems like inappropriate speed, phantom braking, and veering and merging problems.
Tesla's FSD claims have been controversial as no technology currently available is truly entirely self-driving.