Tesla owner Katrin Swindells has had her car for five years and loves taking it on road trips down south with her family, but says she would not buy a Tesla if she were to buy an electric car today.

“If this car got written off in a crash it wouldn’t be replaced by another Tesla, just because of Elon Musk,” she says.

Ms Swindells loves her car, and really enjoys driving it, so is disappointed with the connection it has to the company’s chief executive.

“I wouldn’t want to be associated with Elon Musk. It doesn’t mean I’ll get rid of the car. I plan to drive it for the next two to three decades,” she says.

On Monday, car company Tesla had its worst day on the share market since September 2020.

While chief executive Elon Musk has risen in the political ranks of the second Trump White House, the value of his company has fallen by nearly 50 cent.

Australian Electric Vehicle Association president Dr Chris Jones says Teslas are still the most sought after electric cars in WA, however their popularity is waning.

“It used to be if you wanted an EV Tesla was pretty much one of a very small number of EVs you could choose from, now there’s more competition” he says.

He says the Chinese electric vehicle company BYD is closely catching up to Tesla, and expects it to overtake the American company by the end of the year.

Dr Jones says the electric vehicle community is growing despite Tesla’s declining appeal.

“We’re seeing a lot more people, rather than asking about how an electric car works. People are asking which one I should buy,” he says.

Dr Jones says electric vehicles are now known to be cheaper than the alternative petrol vehicles.

“The financial savings are enormous and obvious, and that is the main reasons people are buying EVs,” he says.

“People have been holding off on buying an EV until they got cheaper, and now they are cheap enough, they’re often-times cheaper than an equivalent petrol vehicle.”

Dr Jones says the Electric Vehicle Charging Network, which was implemented last year, needs to be properly maintained in order to continue expanding the electric vehicle community.

“Making sure the chargers are abundant and reliable is a huge step,” he says.

According to the WA Department of Transport there are currently 23,125 licensed electric vehicles in WA.