"The club (which has been going since 2019) meets every other Saturday morning in the parking lot of a CVS, usually with a complimentary setup of hot coffee and paper cups. Members park their Teslas and congregate in small groups of two or three. Overseeing the gathering is an older woman named Sue Bankalor, who sits with her husband Barry in front of their red 2020 Tesla Model X."
"Following a year of extreme volatility for Tesla stock, nationwide protests, and Elon Musk's political ascent, the stigma of the vehicles (and those who own them) has deeply intensified. But even despite the tie of Tesla to the Trump administration and the company's sales dropping 13.5 percent within the past year, the Tesla fandom is alive and well."
Tesla owners meet biweekly in a Santa Monica CVS parking lot, sharing complimentary coffee and standing in small groups around their cars. An organizer, Sue Bankalor, attends with her husband beside their red 2020 Model X. The Tesla community faces intensified stigma after extreme stock volatility, nationwide protests, and Elon Musk's political ascent. Company sales dropped 13.5 percent in the past year, yet committed fans remain. Enthusiasts seek deeper conversations at larger gatherings such as X Takeover in San Clemente, a two-day convention that draws devoted Tesla fans from farther afield.
Read at Slate Magazine
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