But Tesla's troubles, though levered to Musk, may be deeper than Musk's distractions, such as politics, gaming, and colonizing Mars. A record fourth quarter delivery report in January seemed to indicate all was well with Tesla, but it doesn't tell the full story.

Longtime supporters of Tesla and Elon Musk called on its board to pull the CEO back to the troubled EV maker after he said he is starting a new America Party.

The Chinese automaker BYD is increasingly a thorn in Tesla's side, selling more EVs in 2024 and recently crossing the $100 billion mark.

For the second straight quarter, Tesla’s sales have declined while Chinese rivals like BYD and NIO are surging, a sign of a major power shift in the global electric vehicle market.