Tesla loses ground to rival EV producer

The EV producer Tesla, which has garnered significant attention in recent months, has begun to lose ground to a rival EV company.

A Tesla sign, possibly near a Tesla store.

Tesla has, for the past few years, dominated the electric vehicle industry. Initially relegated to some parts of the United States, the company eventually expanded overseas into Europe, China, and other parts of the developed world. It relied on a strong reputation, cheaper than usual products, and some of the most reliable electric vehicles in the market. It eventually garnered a market cap of over a trillion dollars, fueled by strong investor support for the company and the lack of competition from other companies.

However, Tesla has recently declined in both popularity and wealth. Its CEO, Elon Musk, has become very much hated by political opponents for his far-right conversion over to Donald Trump's political camp. Many millions of Americans, who are moderate or left-leaning, have started a "boycott Tesla" movement which involved selling or outright destroying all kinds of Tesla vehicles, no matter what the owners' political opinions are. They started this movement to protest Musk's role in the Trump administration, which has been characterized by massive spending cuts in all parts of the federal government, from USAID to now the Department of Education. Some of these protesters have resulted to violence, notably the Tesla explosion near Trump Tower in Las Vegas.

Also, Tesla has had to suffer from far greater competition in its own industry. As more consumers begin to tolerate or even support widespread EV usages, more car companies desired to switch from hybrid or gas models to electric ones. Companies like Ford, General Motors, and Porsche have experimented with or even released EV models to rival Tesla's. And as Tesla vehicles progressively went higher and higher in price, rival EV's have become far more affordable, thus ushering a mass exodus of consumers away form the previous giant towards more value companies.

Particularly, one EV company has taken the spotlight as a key rival of Tesla, Lucid. Lucid EVs has been an emerging car company that became notable in recent months for its affordable, reliable, and technologically groundbreaking electric vehicle models. Many of Tesla's former consumers have shifted over to Lucid. "We see a clear uptick of interest in Lucid from Tesla buyers, because they're looking for another option," Lucid's interim CEO Marc Winterhoff stated in a statement. The EV company has distributed Gravity SUV and Air sedan models of EV. On Monday, the value of Tesla stock plummeted while Lucid surged.