The issue affects more than 46,000 trucks made starting in November 2023, which analysts say amounts to nearly all Cybertrucks.

It comes as Tesla, which did not respond to a request for comment, grapples with falling sales amid a backlash against the firm and its boss Elon Musk.

On Thursday, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said three unnamed people would face charges for setting fire to Tesla cars and charging stations, accusing them of “domestic terrorism”.

Tesla does not break out sales of the Cybertruck, but car tech firm Cox Automotive has estimated roughly 39,000 were sold in the US last year.

Prior Cybertruck recalls involved failing windshield wipers, trapped accelerator pedals, possible loss of drive power to the wheels, and other issues.

Tesla started investigating the latest issue, involving a piece formally known as the cant rail, in January, according to filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

“The cant rail, a stainless-steel exterior trim panel, can delaminate and detach from the vehicle,” the notice said.

“A detached panel can become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.”

Tesla told NHTSA it had received about 150 claims from drivers about the issue but was not aware of any accidents caused by the problem.

It estimated that the issue affected about 1% of vehicles involved in the recall.

The issue is covered under a warranty for new owners, and the company will replace the piece free-of-charge.

Tesla’s shares have dropped nearly 40% since January, erasing the jump in value that it enjoyed after the 2024 US election.

The fall has been significantly more than the overall drop in the US stock market over that period.

Dan Ives, an analyst who has historically been very pro-Tesla, said on Thursday the firm was facing a “tornado crisis moment” due to brand damage from Musk’s political role.

The political backlash adds to the challenges the company had already been facing from increased competition and an ageing line-up of offerings.

The Cybertruck was supposed to help reignite buzz around the brand and help it break into the lucrative market for pickup trucks in the US.

It hit the roads in late 2023 and carries a starting cost of more than $72,000 (£55,500).

Bondi said the damage to Tesla cars, dealerships and charging stations was “domestic terrorism”.

Arrests and charges against the three suspects were previously announced by prosecutors.

Tesla dealerships across the country have been targeted in a wave of protests, but also vandalism and arson attacks, in response to Musk’s influence over the Trump administration.

There is no specific US law against domestic terrorism, but prosecutors can request longer prison sentences if convicted criminals have a terrorism-related motive.

Trump and Musk have called the attacks domestic terrorism, too. Supporters of the administration have also reportedly been “swatted” – subjected to armed police raids after hoax emergency calls.

A statement from the Department of Justice on Thursday did not name the suspects in the Tesla vandalism. However, the details of the three cases outlined in the news release match arrests and charges previously announced by prosecutors.

The suspects include Lucy Nelson, 42, who was charged with possession of a destructive device and malicious destruction of property after being spotted near the site of a Tesla dealership in Colorado.

The dealership had been targeted with a Molotov cocktail attack and graffiti which caused damage of between $5,000 and $20,000, according to a criminal complaint. That suspect has pleaded not guilty.

Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, was charged with possession of a destructive device after Molotov cocktails were thrown at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon. He has yet to enter a plea and will face a preliminary hearing in April.

The third, 24-year-old Daniel Clarke-Pounder, was charged with arson after allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at Tesla charging stations in North Charleston, South Carolina, and spray-painting the car park.

In a statement, Bondi said: “The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended.

“Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”

The attorney general said the three suspects could face between five and 20 years in prison if convicted.

Mr Musk is a close ally of the US president and is leading efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.

But in an unsigned letter addressed to the US trade representative, Tesla said while it “supports” fair trade it was concerned US exporters were “exposed to disproportionate impacts” if other countries retaliated to tariffs.

The letter was dated the same day that Trump hosted an event at the White House where he promised to buy a Tesla in a show of support for Mr Musk.

It is unclear who at Tesla wrote the letter as it is unsigned, or if Mr Musk was aware of it.

Tesla’s share price has dropped 40% since the start of the year. Mr Musk is the carmaker’s chief executive and while some have argued his alignment with the Trump administration is hurting its brand, market analysts say the share fall is more about worries over Tesla meeting production targets and a drop in sales over the past year.

In the letter, Tesla said it was making changes to its supply chains to find as many local suppliers for its cars and batteries so it was less reliant on foreign markets.

“None the less,” it warned, “even with aggressive localisation of the supply chain, certain parts and components are difficult or impossible to source within the US.”

The US president has imposed an additional 20% tariff on all imports from China, prompting Beijing to respond with retaliatory levies including on cars. China is Tesla’s second biggest market after the US.

“For example, past trade actions by the United States have resulted in immediate reactions by the targeted countries, including increased tariffs on EVs imported into those countries,” the letter reads.

The EU and Canada have both threatened sweeping retaliations for tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the US, which went into effect earlier this week.

Demonstrators have targeted Tesla showrooms in recent weeks in protest against Mr Musk’s cost-cutting role in Trump’s administration, where he is head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Earlier this week, Trump hosted an event at the White House where he said people protesting against Tesla should be labelled domestic terrorists, while sitting in the driver’s seat of a brand new red Tesla that he said he planned to buy.

Trump said demonstrators were “harming a great American company”, and anyone using violence against the electric carmaker would “go through hell”.

Trump sat in the driver’s seat of a brand new red Tesla that he said he planned to buy, with Musk in the passenger seat, but did not test drive it.

Demonstrators have targeted Tesla showrooms in recent weeks in protest against Musk’s cost-cutting role in Trump’s administration.

Trump said they were “harming a great American company”, and anyone using violence against the electric carmaker would “go through hell”.

The president described the shiny red Model-S, one of a number of Teslas lined up on the White House drive, as “beautiful” but said he was no longer allowed to drive and so would keep the car for the use of White House staff. Current and former presidents are not allowed to drive for security reasons.

He also said he would not want to buy a self-driving model, which Musk said would reach the market next year.

The showcase for Tesla’s cars outside the White House came after Tesla’s market value halved since its all-time peak in December, sliding 15% in a single day on Monday, before recovering slightly on Tuesday.

Trump said he had told Musk, “You know, Elon, I don’t like what’s happening to you, and Tesla’s a great company.”

Musk, Trump’s top donor in the election campaign, has been tasked with radically cutting government spending through his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

He has instigated sweeping cuts to federal workforce, cancelled international aid programmes, and has voiced support for far-right politics.

That has prompted a backlash among Tesla owners.

“Tesla takedown” protests have seen demonstrators gather outside dealerships, in Portland, Oregon, last week, and New York City earlier in March, with the aim of undermining the Tesla brand.

Organisers behind the protests said on social media that the demonstrations were peaceful, but a few have been destructive with fires intentionally set at Tesla showrooms and charging stations in Colorado and Massachusetts last week.

Asked in front of the White House whether such protesters should be labelled “domestic terrorists”, the president said “I will do that”, a position later confirmed by a White House spokesperson.

“You do it to Tesla and you do it to any company, we’re going to catch you and you’re going to go through hell,” Trump said.

On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump blamed Tesla’s share price falls on “radical left lunatics”, who he said were trying to “illegally and collusively boycott” the firm.

However, stock analysts said the main reason for the poor performance of the shares was fear about Tesla meeting production targets and a drop in sales over the past year.

UBS warned that new Tesla deliveries could be much lower than expected this year.

Lindsay James, an investment strategist at Quilter Investors, said that although there was “an element” of Elon Musk’s politics having a “brand impact”, there were other reasons for the share price fall.

Ultimately the drop came down to “hard numbers”, she said.

“When we look at new orders, for example in Europe and China, you can see that they’ve effectively halved over the last year,” she said.

Sales in Europe have fallen sharply this year. Across the continent, they were down 45% in January compared to the same month in 2024, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

There has also been a steep decline in China – a key market – and Australia.

Other experts have said Tesla is over-valued, so the fall is seen as a correction, while others have pointed to rising competition from some of China’s electric vehicle companies.

Investors are “certainly getting more worried about an economic slowdown too, so the richest-valued companies like Tesla have been hit hardest in recent days”, Ms James said.

There have also been concerns that Musk has not been focusing enough of his attention on his firms.

In an interview with Fox Business on Monday, he said he was combining the Doge role with running his businesses “with great difficulty”.

Alongside Tesla, his businesses include Space X, which has experienced serious failures in the last two launches of its giant Starship rocket, and the social media network X, which suffered an outage on Monday.

Despite his supportive comments, President Trump’s policies so far have been designed to limit electric car sales in the US, including revoking a 2021 order by former president Joe Biden that half of all car sales should be electric by 2030, and halting unspent government funds for charging stations.

Trump’s tariffs could also hurt the manufacturer. Tesla chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja said in January Tesla parts sourced from Canada and Mexico would be subject to the levies and that this could hit profitability.

Tesla’s share price fall came against a broader US market slump on Monday as investors, concerned about the economic effects of Trump tariffs and weakening confidence in the economy, sold shares.

Trump’s own economic policies on tariffs are also making investors nervous, analysts said.

Trump blamed “radical left lunatics” boycotting the firm to “attack and do harm” to Tesla owner Elon Musk.

However, stock analysts said the main reason for the poor performance of the shares was due to fears about Tesla meeting production targets and a drop in sales over the past year.

Trump’s own economic policies on tariffs are also making investors nervous, analysts said.

US and Asian markets slumped on Monday as investors concerned about the economic effects of Trump tariffs sold shares.

This came after the US president hinted at a potential US recession, telling a TV interviewer that the world’s biggest economy was in a “period of transition”.

As part of the sell-off, shares in technology firms dropped, with Tesla stock sinking by 15.4%, while artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia, Facebook owner Meta, Amazon, and Google-parent Alphabet also fell sharply.

On Tuesday, Trump took to his Truth Social platform trying to drum up Tesla sales, asking “Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans” to support Musk, who has been putting his energies into trying to slash federal government jobs.

Despite his comments, Trump policies so far have been designed to limit electric car sales, including his revoking a 2021 order by former president Joe Biden that half of all car sales should be electric by 2030, and halting unspent government funds for charging stations.

Trump said that Musk is doing a “fantastic job”, but “radical left lunatics” are “trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla” in an effort “to attack and do harm to Elon”.

“I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,” Trump added.

Following the his comments, Tesla shares rose about 5% in premarket trading.

Tesla shares are back to around the level they were before the US election.

They spiked after Trump’s win as investors bet on Musk’s business benefitting from his backing the president.

Musk has been heading up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), which is not an official US government agency.

Doge has been trying to make huge cuts to federal funding, and Musk himself has has been voicing support for far-right politics.

His stance has been drawing criticism in the US. About 350 demonstrators protested outside a Tesla dealership in Portland, Oregon, last week, and nine demonstrators were arrested outside a New York City Tesla dealership earlier in March.

Linsay James, an investment strategist at Quilter Investors, said that although there is “an element” of Elon Musk’s politics “having a brand impact”, there were other reasons for the share price fall.

Ultimately the drop “comes down to hard numbers”, she said.

“When we look at new orders, for example in Europe and China, you can see that they’ve effectively halved over the last year,” she said.

Other experts have said Tesla is over-valued, so the fall is seen as a correction, while others have pointed to rising competition from some of Chinese electric vehicle companies.

Investors are “certainly getting more worried about an economic slowdown too, so the richest-valued companies like Tesla have been hit hardest in recent days”, she added.

Most “Tesla Takedown” protests have been peaceful, but a few have been destructive with fires intentionally set at Tesla showrooms and charging stations in Colorado and Massachusetts last week.

That was followed by six arrests in New York over the weekend when hundreds of protesters occupied a Tesla showroom.

There has also been a spike in Cybertruck vandalism across the US, and some car owners are defacing their own Teslas in protest of Musk.

One woman showed up to a protest outside a Burbank Tesla on Sunday with an expletive and Musk’s name scrawled in chalk across her white Model X sedan. Another car carried an “Anti Elon Tesla Club” sticker.

The protests illustrate a growing unease over Musk’s influence on the US government since President Donald Trump allowed him to create the cost-cutting task force Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

So far, Doge has fired or offered buyouts to about 100,000 federal employees and gained access to the sensitive personal and financial information of millions of Americans.

Critics have resorted to calling the tech billionaire “President Musk”, arguing that he has too much power in the White House. Some at the protest in Burbank held signs that said “Deport Elon” and “Boycott Swasticar” – with protesters attempting to connect the car to fascism.

Tesla produced the must-have electric cars for many Americans with progressive views, but several protesters said they regretted their purchase after Musk involved himself with Trump and US politics.

Karen Rabwin, a protester at the Burbank Tesla on Sunday, attended just two days after trading in her Tesla for a Cadillac. She had slapped a bumper sticker on her old vehicle that read “Bought This Car Before We Knew” in a veiled reference to Musk, but she felt that wasn’t enough.

“It was embarrassing,” she said of driving the Tesla. “It wasn’t what I stood for. How could I drive that car? I have principles.”

Singer Sheryl Crow donated her Tesla to National Public Radio last month. She posted a video to Instagram waving goodbye to the car as it was towed away.

“There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with. So long Tesla,” Ms Crow wrote.

Musk has responded to the protests by sharing a video on X – the social media platform he owns – of a Cybertruck customer in Texas marvelling at the vehicle’s full self-driving mode.

“Heartfelt thanks to everyone supporting Tesla, despite many attacks against our stores and offices,” Musk wrote.

The social media platform has many posts of Tesla owners showcasing their electric cars. But there are also now videos showing a growing trend of Cybertrucks vandalized with swastikas, used as skate ramps or covered in garbage.

During Mardi Gras in New Orleans, spectators booed an orange Cybertruck and pelted it with beads, calling the futuristic looking vehicle a “Deplorean” or other unfriendly monikers.

Protesters on Sunday said they want to take down Telsa’s value because they are concerned that Mr Musk is damaging the economy and the the country – and their efforts may be having an effect.

While Tesla’s share price surged after Trump was elected – with Musk by his side on election night in Florida – they have tumbled back to pre-election levels following the backlash to Musk’s political involvement.

Some on Sunday also raised concerns that Musk’s government involvement is benefiting his businesses.

Critics note that the tech entrepeneur’s companies have billions of dollar of contracts with the US government, primarily with Nasa and the Defense Department, which are increasingly reliant on Musk’s SpaceX for satellite launches and space exploration.

Last week, reports claimed the Musk had attempted to get the Federal Aviation Administration to cancel a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon to revamp the agency’s telecommunications system and awarding it to Starlink, a company owned by SpaceX, instead.

SpaceX denied that report, posting on X that “Starlink is a possible partial fix to an aging system. There is no effort or intent for Starlink to ‘take over’ any existing contract”.

Some constituents are furious at Musk’s involvement and the White House’s effort to cut certain jobs and programmes. Many have show up at Republican town halls to protest the cuts and the tech billionaire’s growing influence.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders urged members of their party to stop hosting events in response, claiming without evidence that they were being disrupted by “professional protesters”.

The American electric vehicle (EV) giant has begun hiring for a dozen jobs in Delhi and Mumbai. It is also reportedly hunting for showrooms in both cities.

Asia’s third largest economy offers an interesting growth opportunity for Tesla’s futuristic cars as global EV sales plummet and competition from Chinese manufacturers gets more intense.

But there’s a million-dollar question – can Tesla compete in India’s price-sensitive market?

Tata Motors currently holds pole position in India’s EV market – with over 60% market share. MG Motors – jointly owned by India’s JSW and a Chinese firm – is second at 22%. They are followed by Mahindra and Mahindra.

EVs made by these companies cost less than half of what consumers will have to shell out – around $40,000 (£31,637) – for just the base model of Tesla. It will, therefore, be seen as a luxury car, competing with higher-end EVs made by Hyundai, BMW and Mercedes.

Simply in volume terms, this will make India a tiny market for Tesla chief Elon Musk, unless the company introduces a low-cost model specifically for the country.

Besides price, India’s road conditions could pose a challenge.

Tesla cars have very low ground clearance – or the distance between the lowest point of the car’s undercarriage and the ground. This will make adapting to Indian roads difficult. To operate in the country, existing models may have to be re-engineered – which would drive up manufacturing costs.

Will Tesla do this just for one developing market where it could have only a small presence?

“It’s been a challenge even with other global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) at the high end with small volumes. You can’t justify these major engineering changes,” Hormazd Sorabjee, editor of Autocar India magazine, told the BBC.

Also, amidst all the hype, it is easy to forget that EV sales still make up less than 3% of overall passenger vehicle sales in India. Even critical ancillary infrastructure, like charging stations, have taken years to come up. While they have picked up pace, there are only around 25,000 charging stations across India.

In effect, Tesla will be jostling for space in a very small, albeit growing, EV market.

But at a policy level, India appears to be making every effort to woo the carmaker.

The country has outlined an ambitious national vision to go electric. It plans to have 30% of private cars, 70% of commercial cars, 40% of buses and 80% of two and three-wheelers go electric by 2030. Most provincial governments have also established their own EV policies to incentivise demand and supply.

Subsidies offered by India on electric cars are also the highest among major economies, according to HSBC Securities. They amount to as much as 46% of the price of the country’s top-selling electric car model.

It’s no surprise then that passenger EV sales have grown astronomically by over 2,000% in less than five years – going from a low base of 4,700 annually to a 100,000 cars.

“The price difference between regular cars and EVs has reduced a lot, making customers rethink their choice,” says Jyoti Gulia, founder of JMK Research.

In April last year, India also cut import taxes on EVs for global carmakers which committed to investing $500m (£400m) and starting local production within three years.

Tesla and other imported electric vehicles costingover $35,000 (£27,550) can now enjoy a lower import duty of 15% on up to 8,000 vehicles. This came after Musk complained that high import duties had prevented the firm from launching its cars in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

“It’s quite clever, as it forces a global player to localise – which is the way the game works: come and build in India,” says Sorabjee.

The proposed policy could put Indian domestic carmakers at a disadvantage, however, given that the investment requirement for foreign players is “not significant” compared to Indian players in this segment, an HSBC research paper warns.

Import duty of 15% is also “much lower” than the tax on comparable combustion engine cars in India which also pay an additional road tax, according to HSBC.

Domestic EV players say having a “level playing field” is important, but appear unperturbed by Tesla’s impending entry for now.

“We welcome competition,” Rajesh Jejurikar, Mahindra and Mahindra’s Executive Director and CEO, told the BBC. His company feels that more players will strengthen India’s existing EV ecosystem and is working to improve the appeal of their offerings.

Critical issues like “range anxiety” – the worry whether an EV’s battery charge will be enough to complete a journey – have been addressed through “robust battery integration and rigorous real-world testing across diverse road conditions”, says Mr Jejurikar, adding that the brand is deploying cutting-edge technology into their product.

It will be hard to beat Tesla’s edge in this area though, and coupled with sturdier batteries and a better user interface, it will certainly differentiate Tesla cars from others in the market, says Sorabjee.

What might also give Tesla tailwind is the rising share of premium vehicles in the Indian auto market. As a global brand with a perceived “cool quotient”, owning a Tesla will be a status symbol for the young, aspirational Indian population.

But none of this – India’s EV policy or the growing demand for premium cars among India’s affluent – has yet led to a commitment from Tesla to put manufacturing dollars into an EV facility.

For now, it appears the carmaker will only ship units from its factories abroad.

When that changes will depend on a lot of things – how quickly India’s affluent consumer base widens, and what tariff structures look like once India completes trade negotiations with the US.

President Donald Trump has already voiced displeasure over Tesla potentially building a factory in India to avoid high tariffs. In an interview with Fox News recently, he said that this would be “unfair” to the US.

Could Trump’s ‘America First’ policy diminish Musk’s appetite for starting manufacturing units in India then?

The question is moot, but for now it does look like India will first get glitzy Tesla showrooms for its rich, rather than job-creating Tesla factories for its under-employed masses.

The drop in Tesla shares took the company’s valuation back below $1trn for the first time since November 2024.

Tesla has been facing stiff competition in the European market from Chinese and other manufacturers.

In addition, Tesla owner Elon Musk has been making controversial political waves on both sides of the Atlantic, an analyst said.

Tesla sales in January bucked European electric car sale trends, which grew by more than a third in the month, according to trade body Acea.

Instead, Tesla sales across the EU, EFTA and the UK fell more than 45%, and more than 50% in the EU alone.

It comes after Tesla sales fell last year for the first time in more than a decade as demand faltered and rivals gained pace.

The main factor in the January sales slump was likely to be increasing competition, AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said.

Chinese manufacturer BYD has been making big strides, in part because it includes as standard some features which cost extra from other makers, Mould said.

However, some car buyers may also be taking a “principled stand” on Musk’s political interventions, he said.

Musk has made waves in the US with his involvement in slashing US development funds and efforts to drastically reduce US federal funding.

In the UK he supports jailed far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, and repeatedly criticised Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Musk also supports the far-right AfD party in Germany, and congratulated its leader after the party’s record second-place result in elections.

Asked if the reason for Tesla’s share price slump was down to Musk being too toxic, a former senior director of the car maker’s Europe, Middle East and Asia division said it was “definitely one of the reasons for the decline”, but added there was a “cumulative number of things that are piling up a domino effect”.

“There’s no doubt his flirting with the right in politics, running around on TV with a chainsaw is not exactly helping his image,” Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen told the BBC’s Today programme.

“He may be getting a bigger fanbase within a specific type of clientele, but they’re not the ones that are buying the Teslas. They’re not the ones putting money in to his company. So he has a problem.”

Tesla shares got a big boost after the US election due to Musk’s closeness to Donald Trump – Musk has described himself as “first buddy” to the US president.

Investors thought this would stand his businesses in good stead.

However, Trump is not a supporter of electric vehicles, and has said he will cancel efforts to boost their ownership.

“How anybody thought this was going to be good for Tesla, I don’t know,” Mould said.

There is also general market skittishness about the path of interest rate cuts and concerns about Trump tariff plans that could be contributing to the fall, he added.

They were not there to take aim at the company’s electric vehicles, but the person behind Tesla – Elon Musk – and join with others who are upset at the world’s richest man’s work to disrupt and take apart large portions of the US government.

“It’s a place where we can make a visible stand against him personally,” Ms Koistinen told the BBC. “He should not be deciding the fate of our democracy by disassembling our government piece by piece. It’s not right.”

As part of an effort organizers dubbed #TeslaTakeover, clutches of protesters across the country gathered outside the company’s showrooms, having largely planned when to meet and where on the social media platform Bluesky, an upstart competitor to Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter.

In some places, those protests barely numbered a dozen, with people in Washington DC, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and Lyndhurst, Ohio, stamping their feet to stay warm amid snow and cold weather. Some held signs that read “Say no to Doge” and “Deport Musk”.

The protest in Berkeley – a top California city for electric car ownership – numbered 200.

As part of his White House-backed effort called Doge, for Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has been sending teams into government agencies to comb through data and pushing for massive spending cuts as well as “clawbacks” of money already spent.

President Donald Trump, who received an historic amount of campaign donations from Musk, is on the same page, freezing hiring as well as laying off thousands of federal employees.

Musk says he has uncovered wasteful spending and his work is aimed at making the government operate more smoothly. But to many, he is stopping the government from functioning while making decisions that should be left to elected leaders and accessing private information.

“It’s just really grinding on the mind,” said Dale Koistinen. “I’m 84 years old. This is unbelievable. This is a takeover of our government.”

Along with X, Musk also is the primary owner SpaceX, Neuralink and the Boring Company. But it is Tesla he is most known for and Tesla is where people unhappy with his Doge work are taking out their anger.

For days, concerned Americans have been asking fellow citizens to dump their Tesla stock and sell their Tesla vehicles.

Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow posted a video to Instagram that showed her Tesla being towed away.

“There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with,” she wrote in the caption. “So long Tesla.”

Crow added that she was donating proceeds from the car’s sale to National Public Radio in the U.S., a frequent target of Musk’s ire.

Tesla stock surged following Donald Trump’s election in November. Musk contributed a quarter of a billion dollars to Trump’s re-election effort, and hit the trail on Trump’s behalf in the final days of the campaign.

But after touching an all-time high in December, the company’s shares have shed 30% of their value with a pronounced selloff since Trump was inaugurated last month.

Saturday’s protests were promoted by prominent disinformation researcher Joan Donovan and the actor Alex Winter, who played Bill in the 80s movie “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”

Teah Jackson, though, noticed the Berkeley protest during an outing with her girlfriend, and stopped to show her support.

“It’s hopeful,” Jackson told the BBC. “It’s an acknowledgement that people aren’t going to go down without a fight and that they’re going to continue to push for what they believe in.”

The company says it sold 207,734 EVs in December, taking its annual total to 1.76 million, as subsidies and discounts helped attract customers.

It comes as Tesla is due to announce its own quarterly sales figures later on Thursday.

The US electric car maker maintained a slim lead in EV sales over BYD in the previous quarter but the Shenzhen-based firm has been narrowing the gap.

BYD’s total vehicle sales jumped more than 41% in 2024, year-on-year. The surge was powered mainly by sales of its hybrid cars.

The company has benefited from a rise in car sales in its home market, as intense competition drove down prices and government subsidies encouraged consumers to replace their old cars with EVs or other more fuel efficient options.

BYD sells 90% of its cars in China, where its been extending its lead over foreign brands like Volkswagen and Toyota.

The rise of BYD and other Chinese EV makers contrasts with the challenges faced by some legacy car makers, which have been struggling in major Western markets.

Last month, Honda and Nissan confirmed that they were holding merger talks, as the two Japanese firms seek to fight back against competition from the Chinese car industry.

Also in December, Volkswagen announced it had reached a deal with the IG Metall trade union which will avert plant closures in Germany and avoid immediate compulsory redundancies.

The German motor industry giant had previously warned it might have to shutter plants in the country for the first time in a bid to cut costs.

Earlier in the month, the boss of car making giant Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, quit with immediate effect following a boardroom clash.

His abrupt exit from the company – which owns brands including Vauxhall, Jeep, Fiat, Peugeot and Chrysler – came two months after Stellantis issued a profit warning.

In the third quarter of 2024, BYD saw its revenues soar, beating Tesla’s for the first time.

It posted more than 200bn yuan ($28.2bn, £21.8bn) in revenues between July and September – a 24% jump from the same period last year, and more than Elon Musk’s company whose quarterly revenue was $25.2bn.

However, Tesla still sold more electric vehicle (EVs) than BYD.

Chinese car makers have been trying to boost sales of their EVs outside the country but have faced pushback in some major markets.

In October, European Union tariffs of up to 45.3% on imports of Chinese-made EVs came into force across the bloc.

The US has also imposed a 100% duty on EVs from China and President-elect Donald Trump is expected to impose further tariffs on imports.

Meanwhile, BYD has been expanding its foothold in emerging economies.

Last month, it faced a setback in Brazil – its largest overseas market – with authorities halting the construction of a BYD factory, saying workers lived in conditions comparable to “slavery”.

BYD said it had cut ties with the construction firm involved and remained committed to a “full compliance with Brazilian legislation”.