That surge reversed four years of poor performance for Tesla's shares as investors soured on the EV maker's weakening fundamentals and CEO Elon Musk's serial promises of fully self-driving cars and an inexpensive mass-market model that proved an ever-receding horizon.

With the high visibility of Musk’s DOGE role, there’s been a surge in public attention on his politics — and mounting hate toward his EVs from Trump critics.