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Tesla stores continue to face anti-Musk protests
Scenes from a protest outside of Tesla’s store in Loveland, Colorado.
Tesla stores have been the target of widespread protests and vandalism in recent weeks, after Elon Musk made a controversial gesture in January, and as he and the Trump administration’s newly created government efficiency division continues to gut federal agencies.
On Saturday, I went to the Tesla store in Loveland, Colorado, where demonstrators were already protesting upon my arrival at roughly 12:45 p.m. MT. Walking up to the protest, I could see scattered groups of demonstrators lined up along about two blocks, spanning from the Tesla store to a nearby intersection and Sprouts location. One protestor said he had counted about 230 people at around 1:00 p.m. MT.
The protest felt generally peaceful, with cars driving by and honking, and demonstrators leaving a large space between the front of the Tesla store and the sidewalk, easily allowing workers and customers to go in and out.
You can see a few videos and photos from the site below, along with some of the responses I got from protestors and a prospective customer.
Walking up to the protest, I could see scattered groups of demonstrators lined up along about two blocks, spanning from the Tesla store to a nearby intersection and Sprouts location.
One protestor said he had counted about 230 people at around 1:00 p.m. MT. pic.twitter.com/gbZIuWWej7
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 15, 2025
Protests in front of the Tesla store in Loveland, Colorado pic.twitter.com/qLRM9TY0ng
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 15, 2025
READ MORE ON TESLA PROTESTS AND VANDALISM:
- U.S. AG Pam Bondi: Tesla Molotov attack suspect facing up to 20 years in prison
- Tesla mulls adding a new feature to fight off vandals as anti-Musk protests increase
- Tesla fire in Germany may be considered a threat to the state
- Tesla showroom in Oregon gets shot up for second time in a week
- Donald Trump pledges Tesla purchase amid anti-Musk protests
- Congress supports probe into ‘domestic terrorism’ of Tesla vandalism
- Anti-Musk protests at Tesla store in New York lead to arrests
- Elon Musk slams MSNBC for relating Trump’s terrorism warning to Tesla ‘protests’
- One dozen Teslas burn in arson attack in France, investigation underway
I spoke to about a dozen protestors about what they were protesting against. Most said they were there to condemn Musk’s recent federal worker and program cuts with the Trump administration, his performance of what some said resembled a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration ceremony in January, or the administration’s recent attacks against transgender and queer individuals.
One protestor, Elsa, identified as a former Republican and said she was “highly concerned that our Constitution is being ignored,” especially with regards to the three branches of government and the system of checks and balances.
“It surprises me that, even if you voted for Trump, or you believe in capitalism, which, I didn’t vote for Trump, but I do believe in capitalism — I’m a former Republican, I was a Republican for most of my life — but it’s dangerous to have power rest in a handful of ultra-wealthy people,” Elsa said.
“And our whole country needs to realize that,” she adds. “This to me is not even Republican or Democrat at this point.”
Instead, she says it now comes down to whether people want to give billionaires huge tax breaks, or to use that money to support a range of groups in the U.S., including those who have social security benefits, are veterans, or are 9/11 survivors seeking cancer treatments, as a few examples.
Another protestor, Mary, said she was taking part in the demonstration “because she loves this country and democracy,” adding that she wanted to help preserve democracy for her grandchildren.
Still another protestor, Bryan, said that they were protesting because of the Trump administration and Musk’s attempts to erase transgender, non-binary, and queer people from history, drawing comparisons to the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany, where early human rights violations were lodged against gay and queer communities.
“I’m here because I have to be,” Bryan said. “I’m afraid of the future.”
Yet another person and his family were holding Ukraine flags, saying that they were protesting for a wide range of reasons, but especially for Trump’s recent meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Musk’s claims that the top Ukrainian executive was to blame for what he has called a “forever war.”
While most protestors appeared to be generally friendly, especially with each other, I did hear a few exchanges between demonstrators and those with other opinions. While I heard more cars honking throughout the experience, seemingly in support of the protests, I also noticed a few from which passengers yelled things like “Go Trump.”
“Direct action, we need to stop these fascists with direct action,” one protestor yelled in response.
Additionally, I also talked to a prospective customer, Kristy, who was there for a test drive and said she had a negative experience with the protestors.
“I was test driving a Tesla, and as we pulled in and parked right here, this black one, these people right here in the middle yelled at me, ‘Hope you’re turning in your f*cking Nazi car,’ and I said ‘F*ck you,’” Kristy explained.
“And they’re like ‘F*ck you too, you’re a Nazi, f*cking Nazi lovers.’ And so, they’re just yelling racial slurs at me, and I’m far from a Nazi.”
Tesla store advisers declined to comment on the protests, and so did Loveland police.
Other Saturday protest footage from Tesla stores in California, Texas, and New York
The Loveland Tesla store has also been the site of repeated attacks in recent weeks, with authorities on Friday making a second arrest following multiple incidents. You can see the Department’s press release for the arrest below.
Another arrest has been made by the Loveland Police Department.🚔
The arrest was related to an incident earlier this month, which involved an incendiary device being ignited and thrown at a Tesla location. https://t.co/s1pZjAacD3
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 14, 2025
The protest was also part of widespread demonstrations on Saturday, and it’s just the latest in actions targeting Musk’s electric vehicle (EV) company, some of which have included acts of vandalism, graffiti, arson, and even the use of weapons on Tesla storefronts.
Multiple other protests were also captured in footage on Saturday, including one in Santa Rosa, California, as shared by the San Francisco Chronicle, and another attended by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in Austin, Texas. Still another was captured in New York City, and you can see footage from each of these protests below.
“Hey, hey, ho, ho, Elon Musk has got to go.”
Protesters rally during a protest outside a Tesla showroom against U.S. President Donald Trump and the Tesla CEO in Santa Rosa. 🎥: @stephenlamphoto pic.twitter.com/qpXuuGNghf
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) March 15, 2025
Viciously crazed leftist Tesla protesters in Austin are dumbstruck when I invoke the truth about their movement, calling it a “Pedophile Satan Cult”. pic.twitter.com/WzWPfYup4R
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) March 15, 2025
Another anti-Elon Musk and Tesla protest outside of a showroom in New York City! pic.twitter.com/QLrRfWesG2
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) March 15, 2025
SpaceX has achieved an incredible milestone by launching its 11,000th Starlink satellite into orbit.
This accomplishment occurred during the Starlink Group 17-50 mission, which lifted off on August 19 at 04:01 UTC from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Falcon 9 launches 24 @Starlink satellites from California pic.twitter.com/UscpmAxDls
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 19, 2026
A Falcon 9 rocket carried 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on this flight, successfully deploying them into low Earth orbit approximately one hour after liftoff. The first stage booster, identified as B1097 on its twelfth flight, landed successfully on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
According to tracking data compiled around that date, this deployment brought the total number of Starlink satellites in orbit to just over 11,000.
The Starlink program began with test satellites known as Tintin A and B, launched on February 22, 2018. The first operational batch of 60 Starlink satellites followed on May 24, 2019, when a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral. Those initial satellites marked the start of a rapid expansion that has continued for more than seven years.
SpaceX has conducted hundreds of dedicated Starlink missions since then, routinely launching batches of 20 to 30 satellites at a time using reusable Falcon 9 rockets. By mid-2026, the company had already surpassed 12,000 total satellites launched across all versions, with continuous replacements for units that deorbit as designed to manage space debris.
Looking ahead, SpaceX continues to expand the Starlink constellation to enhance global broadband coverage, capacity, and speed. The network already serves millions of users across more than 160 countries and supports applications ranging from residential internet to maritime, aviation, and emergency services.
Future plans center on next-generation hardware, including larger V3 satellites capable of delivering substantially higher throughput, which require the increased payload capacity of the Starship vehicle currently under development and testing.
In July, SpaceX submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission seeking authority for a Gen3 constellation of up to 100,000 satellites. These spacecraft would operate in very low Earth orbit shells at altitudes near 325 kilometers and 475 kilometers. The filing requests use of existing Ku, Ka, V, and E band spectrum along with new greenfield W and D band frequencies between 92 and 275 GHz.
SpaceX states that the expanded system aims to deliver multi-gigabit symmetrical broadband to consumers, enterprises, governments, and billions of AI-powered devices worldwide while handling a majority of global internet traffic. Approval and subsequent deployment would depend on regulatory review and the operational readiness of Starship for high-volume launches.
This ambitious scale reflects SpaceX’s ongoing commitment to providing ubiquitous high-speed connectivity from space.
Tesla has opened a new sweepstakes to allow the public to be among the first to take an initial ride in a Cybercab. This all-electric, steering-wheel-less, pedal-less vehicle is the centerpiece of the company’s autonomous ride-hailing platform, Robotaxi.
There are two ways Tesla fans can get to Austin to take part in the first public rides of the Cybercab: by riding on the Robotaxi platform by August 23, or by mailing a very specific entry to their Headquarters at Gigafactory Texas.
Tesla announced the latter portion of the sweepstakes last night:
🚨 Want to win a trip to Austin to ride in one of the first Cybercab rides ever?
Here’s how:
Tesla has opened up a new sweepstakes to ride in a Cybercab upon its public launch. Here’s the details.
There are two methods of entry into the sweepstakes, and they are as follows:… pic.twitter.com/iJRd4evuWo
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 19, 2026
Tesla will give one entry into the sweepstakes if you mail a 3″ by 5″ piece of paper with your full name, mailing address, telephone number, email address, and date of birth to their address:
Tesla, Robotaxi Sweeps Event
1 Tesla Road,
Austin, TX 78725
There is a limit of one entry per stamped envelope. You can send as many as you’d like, but they must be in separate envelopes.
The company’s unique strategy to give people the opportunity to ride in a Cybercab before pretty much anyone else outside of the company is a hilarious but spot-on representation of how Tesla operates. In classic fashion, they had the perfect response to the event:
— Tesla (@Tesla) August 19, 2026
Cybercab will launch later this month, it appears, especially as it plans to announce the winners of the sweepstakes on August 25. The car has already been operating internally, as employees have been able to utilize the Cybercab for rides in some capacity, something it announced earlier this month.
Tesla weirdly confirms Cybercab employee rides, a huge milestone
Moving forward, the big goal is to get Cybercab out on the roads and integrated into the public Robotaxi fleet, one that will pick up real-world ride-hailers and give them a ride from Point A to Point B.
No matter which way you cut it, it appears Tesla is close to putting a vehicle with no steering wheel and no pedals on the road to help people travel autonomously.
You can ride along with us in our first Cybercab ride from the We, Robot event in October 2024. The video is embedded below:
🎥: Our FULL first ride in the @Tesla Cybercab pic.twitter.com/6gR7OgKRCz
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 11, 2024
Tesla has revealed plans through permit submissions for a massive Robotaxi charging hub in Austin, Texas.
Tesla plans to build the Supercharger hub in multiple phases, with the second phase potentially introducing wireless induction charging, something the company has been developing for the Robotaxi fleet.
Initially, 48 Tesla Robotaxi-geared Superchargers will be built on a lot just across from the St. Elmo, Texas, Service Center. There are about 80 additional spots that will not be impacted by phase 1 of the construction process.
Filings show that the second phase of the project will turn those 80 additional spots into wireless charging for Robotaxi, but it might be an error. The Key Notes state that item 3 is listed as “V4 Charging Cabinet to Support 80 Wireless Chargers in Phase 2. However, the drawings point to V3 Cabinets that are already tied to Superchargers:
There are roughly 128 total spots in the lot, but it is unclear if they will all be used for charging based on what appears to be some sort of typo in the blueprint.
A new Robotaxi fleet charging hub is coming soon to Austin, Texas!!
Permits have been filed for the installation of 48 (V3) stalls in a vehicle storage lot across the road from Tesla’s St Elmo service center. pic.twitter.com/xwRgSWDqht
— MarcoRP (@MarcoRPi1) August 18, 2026
This is among the first Robotaxi charging hubs Tesla has started to develop, as it currently has four others planned throughout various areas: one in Phoenix, one in San Antonio, another in Irving, which will serve the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and another in Las Vegas.
These projects are necessary as Tesla expands its Robotaxi program. Now that preparations have started for the public launch of Cybercab, Robotaxi will likely be expanding aggressively, especially over the next two to three years.
Last night, The Information reported that Tesla was planning to launch Cybercab as soon as the end of August. Hours later, Tesla then announced it was launching a competition for fans to potentially ride in Cybercab during its first public rides.
Tesla’s plan to expand its charging infrastructure in the regions where Robotaxi will initially operate is great preparation for the expanding service. There is still a lot to do, including launching the Cybercab on time.
SpaceX achieves incredible milestone with Starlink program
Tesla is opening Cybercab rides to a select few
