Elon Musk Is Back at Tesla, but the Magic Might Be Gone

Elon Musk and Tesla. Tesla and Elon Musk. The future of America’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer has always been tied to its charismatic and controversial CEO. Conversely, a significant portion of the self-described Techno King’s immense fortune is built on Tesla. Their destinies are linked. As Musk goes, so goes Tesla.

A month after his chaotic exit from the Trump administration, the CEO has returned to the company full time, attempting to stabilize a brand whose reputation has been badly damaged by its leader’s political actions.

For months, Musk had been a high-profile member of the administration. After reportedly helping Donald Trump return to the White House, he was entrusted with a tailor-made agency, the Department of Government Efficiency. The much-vaunted DOGE quickly became the public face of the administration’s most controversial policies, as Musk led efforts to slash the federal government and close entire agencies. His simultaneous embrace of white supremacist causes alienated the progressive and liberal customer base that had built Tesla into a global powerhouse. The consequences were severe: Tesla’s vehicle sales plummeted, leading to a 20% drop in revenue and a 71% plunge in net income in the first quarter of this year.

Under pressure from investors, Musk was forced to leave the government at the end of May. Now, a month after his return, he faces a Herculean task, as illustrated by Tesla’s share price, which has fallen more than 7% since his return. This Wednesday, July 2, Tesla is scheduled to release its second-quarter vehicle delivery figures, a key barometer of sales. Analysts, according to figures compiled by Visible Alpha, expect deliveries to have fallen 10% to around 400,000 units compared to the same quarter last year.

If this decline is confirmed, it will suggest that Tesla’s brand is seriously damaged, particularly in markets like Europe where Musk’s posts promoting far-right figures were poorly received. The bad news is compounded by an exodus of top talent. Omead Afshar, who oversaw sales and manufacturing, was recently let go, according to reports. Other key executives have also departed, including Milan Kovac, the engineering lead for the Optimus robot program, and David Lau, a decade-long software veteran.

“Omead is gone. Tesla is cooked,” commented Ross Gerber, a former Tesla bull who now has a strained relationship with Musk.

Omead is gone. Tesla is cooked.

— Ross Gerber (@GerberKawasaki) June 26, 2025

Afshar was a close lieutenant of Musk. He had been at Tesla since 2017.

Musk also faces a new political challenge he helped create. The Senate’s version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” President Trump’s signature legislation, completely eliminates the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles by the end of September. This is devastating news for Tesla, which has previously relied on regulatory credit revenue to bolster its profits.

Musk seems to understand the danger well. On June 28, he did not hesitate to attack the bill in very harsh terms: “The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country! Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”

The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!

Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future. https://t.co/TZ9w1g7zHF

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 28, 2025

To be sure, Musk has restarted his efforts to promote Tesla. He hyped the recent launch of a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, and a video of a Model Y supposedly driving itself from the factory to a customer’s home.

Come hang out with us & Model Y for 30 mins

Full drive in 1x speed below https://t.co/lcClc85Hsn pic.twitter.com/3Ki7StYhsA

— Tesla (@Tesla) June 28, 2025

But in a sign that things have changed, the old magic seems to be fading. While his superfans celebrated these events as historic, a large portion of social media met them with skepticism, quickly pointing out that Google’s Waymo already offers more advanced autonomous services.

Meanwhile, Musk’s attention remains divided. He continues to work on his AI chatbot, Grok, and his brain chip company, Neuralink, often praising its projects on X. “There is a clear path to restoring hearing with a @Neuralink, even for someone who has had total hearing loss since birth,” he posted on June 28.

There is a clear path to restoring hearing with a @Neuralink, even for someone who has had total loss of hearing since birth, as our device directly activates the neurons in the brain that process sound https://t.co/h5CeELct5m

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 28, 2025

For a man who has pitched Tesla as a future $30 trillion company built on AI, software, and robotics, he has an immense amount of work to do. This Wednesday’s delivery numbers will be the first major test in his attempt to convince skeptics and the markets that he can right the ship.