About 10 years ago, Tom Blackburn became one of the first 100,000 people to buy a Tesla Model S. The purchase was part of a broader effort to adopt a more environmentally conscious lifestyle, which also included installing solar panels on his Virginia home.

Sales are plunging in some of the world’s biggest EV markets, and protesters and vandals are targeting the company’s stores.

For someone who wears many hats, including—but not limited to—being the CEO of Tesla TSLA and SpaceX and the owner of social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), the world's richest man, Elon Musk has a lot of time on his hands.