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Tesla stores, vehicles and chargers face continued vandalism and protests

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Tesla’s stores, vehicles, and chargers have continued to face protests and acts of vandalism in recent weeks, as people have been targeting Elon Musk’s company for his recent work within the newly created government efficiency division under the Trump administration.

Over the weekend, Tesla’s Charging account on X responded to a user who posted a photo of a Supercharger post tagged with the word “Nazi” and a swastika, noting that the company would have the graffiti removed immediately and would press charges for vandalism at any of its chargers.

The user who originally posted the photo at his local Supercharger says he’s located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the event comes as the latest of several protests both over the weekend and vandalism events in the past few weeks.

Below you’ll find a few links to some other relevant pieces, a short roundup of just a few of the recent anti-Tesla protests and vandalism events, and a bit more background on the recent outrage against Musk.

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Recent Tesla protests and vandalism: a short roundup

San Francisco, California Tesla store protest

D.C. Protestors call for ‘Less Elons and More Luigis,’ say Elon should need ‘100 bodyguards instead of 20’

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Pennsylvania Tesla store protests

In a report on Sunday from The Philadelphia Inquirer, a few protestors can be seen outside the company’s Devon, Pennsylvania store holding signs out to passing vehicles.

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A separate video posted on X on Sunday showed what was estimated to be around 100 protestors outside of Tesla’s store in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which you can see below.

Salt Lake City, Utah Supercharger graffiti

The aforementioned graffiti in Salt Lake City, Utah, to which Tesla has responded that it aims to press charges against the person who did this. Users also noticed a security camera in the background of the shot, footage from which could potentially be used to identify the vandal.

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Credit: @SnazzyLabs/X

Gothenburg, Sweden arson of Tesla vehicles

Two Tesla vehicles were set on fire in Gothenburg last Thursday, and authorities went on to arrest a suspected perpetrator, a 35-year-old, though he was later released. On Friday, two more Teslas had been torched around 8:00 p.m., and all four fires are being investigated in potential connection with each other.

Authorities later arrested and re-released the suspect again, though a fifth Tesla was later also started on fire, and they arrested him and kept him in custody. It’s not clear at the time of writing if authorities have been able to link the suspect to the crimes.

Loveland, Colorado arson and graffiti

In Loveland, Colorado, vandals repeatedly attempted to light the city’s Tesla store on fire in recent weeks, along with tagging X’s over vehicle windows and writing “Nazi cars,” on the location’s front windows.

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Credit: crusadrpers0n | Reddit

Credit: CBS Colorado

Why are people targeting Tesla’s stores, vehicles, and chargers?

Last month, at U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Musk performed what many said appeared to be a Nazi salute, a gesture which multiple high-profile figures, including former Trump senior counselor and media executive Steve Bannon, have repeated in recent weeks. Many wrote the gesture off as an act of excitement and/or trolling, while others around the world have condemned the act.

Some Teslarati readers were also outraged following Musk’s appearance last month at a campaign event for the German far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), in which he echoed thoughts on anti-immigration policy, the importance of “taking pride in Germany,” avoiding losing culture to “multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” and adding that there’s “too much of a focus on past guilt.”

Preliminary results show that the AfD lost the election over the weekend, coming in second to CDU/CSU’s Friedrich Merz, but the party also garnered its largest result in history and doubled votes from the previous election, according to leader Alice Weidel.

Other readers have defended Musk’s actions at the inauguration and the appearance at AfD’s campaign event, as well as his recent work under the Trump administration’s government efficiency department.

Musk was also defended by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and others following the salute and appearance, and his recent work for the U.S. government.

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Tesla stores are also being protested because of Musk’s recent involvement in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been gutting several federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, and expected plans to target the Department of Education.

DOGE has been hit with several lawsuits over the actions taken in the past few weeks, though it’s not clear if the massive federal cuts will be found lawful. The administration has also demonized judges and the judicial branch generally in recent weeks, with Trump saying in a post on X earlier this month that “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

What are your thoughts? Has your vehicle, local store are charger been targeted by vandalism or protests? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk reveals date of Tesla Full Self-Driving’s next massive release

Initially planned for a January or February release, v14.3 aims to add some reasoning and logic to the decisions that Full Self-Driving makes, which could improve a lot of things, including Navigation, which is a major complaint of many owners currently.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the date of Full Self-Driving’s next massive release: v14.3.

For months, Tesla owners with Hardware 4 have been utilizing Full Self-Driving v14.2 and subsequent releases. Currently, the most up-to-date FSD version is v14.2.2.5, which has definitely brought out mixed reviews. With releases, some things get better, and other things might regress slightly.

For the most part, things are better in terms of overall behavior.

However, many owners have been looking forward to the next release, which is v14.3, about which Musk has said many great things. Back in November, Musk said that v14.3 “is where the last big piece of the puzzle lands.”

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He added:

“We’re gonna add a lot of reasoning and RL (reinforcement learning). To get to serious scale, Tesla will probably need to build a giant chip fab. To have a few hundred gigawatts of AI chips per year, I don’t see that capability coming online fast enough, so we will probably have to build a fab.”

Initially planned for a January or February release, v14.3 aims to add some reasoning and logic to the decisions that Full Self-Driving makes, which could improve a lot of things, including Navigation, which is a major complaint of many owners currently.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2 is a considerable improvement from early versions of the suite, but we have written about the somewhat confusing updates that have come with recent versions.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2.2.5 might be the most confusing release ever

They’ve been incredibly difficult to gauge in terms of progress because some things have gotten better, but there seems to be some real regression on a handful of things, especially with confidence and assertiveness.

Musk confirmed today on X that Tesla is already testing v14.3 internally right now. It will hit a wide release “in a few weeks,” so we should probably expect it by late April.

Overall, there are high hopes that v14.3 could be a true game changer for Tesla Full Self-Driving, as many believe it could be the version that Robotaxis in Austin, Texas, some of which are driverless and unsupervised, are running.

It could also include some major additions, including “Banish,” also referred to as “Reverse Summon,” which would go find a parking spot after dropping occupants off at their destination.

What Tesla will roll out, and when exactly it arrives, all remain to be seen, but fans have been ready for a new version as v14.2.2.5 has definitely run its course. We have had a lot of readers tell us their biggest request is to fix Navigation errors, which seem to be one of the most universal complaints among daily FSD users.

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Elon Musk

SpaceX’s Starship V3 is almost ready and it will change space travel forever

SpaceX is targeting April for the debut test launch of Starship V3 “Version 3”

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SpaceX is closing in on one of the most anticipated rocket launches in history, as the company readies for a planned April test launch and debut of its next-gen Starship V3 “Version 3”.

The latest iteration of Starship V3 has a slightly taller Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage than their predecessors, and produce stronger, more efficient thrust using SpaceX’s upgraded Raptor 3 engines. V3 also features increased propellant capacity, targeting a total payload capacity of over 100 tons to low Earth orbit, compared to around 35 tons for its predecessor. With Musk’s lifelong aspiration to colonize Mars one day, the increased payload capacity matters enormously, because Mars missions require moving massive amounts of cargo, fuel, and eventually, people. But the most critical upgrade may be orbital refueling. SpaceX’s entire deep space architecture depends on moving large amounts of propellant in space, and having orbital refueling capabilities turn Starship from just a rocket into a true transport system. Without it, neither the Moon nor Mars is reachable at scale.

A fully reusable Starship and Super Heavy, SpaceX aims to drive marginal launch costs down and at a tenfold reduction compared to current market leaders. To put that in perspective, getting a kilogram of cargo to orbit today costs thousands of dollars. Bring that number down far enough and space stops being an exclusive domain. That price point unlocks mass deployment of satellite constellations, large-scale science payloads, and affordable human transport beyond Earth orbit. It also means the Moon stops being a destination we visit and starts being one we inhabit.

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Elon Musk pivots SpaceX plans to Moon base before Mars

NASA expects Starship to take off for the Moon’s South Pole in 2028, with the ultimate goal of establishing a permanently crewed science station there. A successful V3 flight this spring keeps that timeline alive.  As for Mars, Musk has shifted focus toward building a self-sustaining city on the Moon first, arguing that the Moon can be reached every 10 days versus Mars’s 26-month alignment window. Mars remains the horizon, but the Moon is the proving ground.

Elon Musk hasn’t been shy with hyping the upcoming Starship V3 launch. In a social media post on Wednesday, he confirmed the first V3 flight is getting closer to launch. SpaceX also announced its initial activation campaign for V3 and Starbase Pad 2 was complete, wrapping up several days of cryogenic fuel testing on a V3 vehicle for the first time. The countdown is on. April can’t come soon enough.

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Tesla Roadster is ‘sorcery and magic’ and might be worth the wait, Uber founder says

Perhaps the wait will be worth it, especially according to Uber founder Travis Kalanick, who recently teased the Roadster’s potential capabilities based on what he has heard from internal Tesla sources.

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tesla roadster
Credit: Praveen Joseph/Twitter

Tesla is planning to unveil the Roadster in late April after years of waiting. But the wait might be worth it, according to Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber, who recently shed some light on his expectations for the all-electric supercar.

We all know the Roadster is supposed to have some serious capability. CEO Elon Musk has said on numerous occasions that the Roadster will be unlike anything else ever produced. It might go from 0-60 MPH in about a second, it might hover, it might have SpaceX cold gas thrusters.

However, the constant delays in the Roadster program and its unveiling event continue to send Tesla fans into confusion because they’re just not sure when, or if, they’ll ever see the finished product.

Perhaps the wait will be worth it, especially according to Uber founder Travis Kalanick, who recently teased the Roadster’s potential capabilities based on what he has heard from internal Tesla sources.

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Kalanick said on X:

Musk has said this vehicle is not going to be geared for safety, and that, “If safety is your number one goal, do not buy the Roadster.”

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There has been so much hype regarding the Roadster that it is hard to believe the company could not come through on some kind of crazy features for the vehicle.

Elon Musk just dropped a huge detail on the Tesla Roadster

However, the latest delay that Tesla put on the unveiling event is definitely eye-opening, especially considering it is the latest in a series of pushbacks the company has put on the vehicle for the past several years.

Tesla has made several jumps in the Roadster project over the past few months, as it has ramped up hiring for the vehicle and also applied for a patent for a new seat design.

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The car has been a back-burner project for Tesla, as it has been focusing primarily on autonomy and the rollout of Robotaxi and Cybercab. Additionally, its other vehicle projects, like the Model 3 and Model Y refreshes, took precedence.

Tesla still plans to unveil the Roadster next month, so we can hope the company can stick to this timeframe.

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