Before Gov. Walz tussled with Elon Musk, Tesla supercharged Minnesota’s EV market

Gov. Tim Walz has gloated publicly about Tesla’s business troubles in his political spat with Elon Musk, once even saying he got “a little boost” from the company’s falling stock price. No automaker, however, has been more important for Walz’s goal to convince Minnesotans to buy electric vehicles.

Though still modest, the EV market that has emerged in Minnesota since Walz was first elected governor in 2018 is largely thanks to Musk’s company.

“In the past, Tesla has been one of the biggest drivers of the market,” said Jukka Kukkonen, founder of the Minnesota-based EV consulting firm Shift2Electric.

But even as Walz’s fellow Democrats abandon Tesla in droves, EV experts are not afraid that Minnesota will lose climate progress in the political divorce.

The state’s hopes for a cleaner car market don’t rest on Tesla as much as they once did as new EV models appear in showrooms and EV chargers multiply across the state.

Tesla is “not as dominant as they used to be, clearly,” Kukkonen said.

Tesla, which did not respond to requests for comment, has been, by far, the most popular EV manufacturer in Minnesota since 2018. That year was the beginning of the first real jump in EV sales.

There are now about 25,000 Tesla vehicles registered in Minnesota, more than triple its closest competitor, Chevrolet. That’s according to state data kept by Atlas Public Policy.

Still, Tesla’s dominance of the EV market may have peaked in 2020, when it made up more than half of all EVs newly registered in Minnesota that year. That counts sales of new cars, but can also include people registering EVs in Minnesota they bought in another state or some used EVs swapping owners.

Since 2020, Tesla’s share of original EV registrations has fallen, reaching about 31% last year and 23% through March 2025.

Kukkonen said one reason is that consumers have more options.

There are more than 100 models of EVs available in the state now, and only a handful are Tesla. There are many comparable cars that are competitive on price, battery range or charging speed.

Scott Lambert, president of the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association, said he can track the growth in EV diversity at the yearly Twin Cities Auto Show in Minneapolis.

“A few years ago, Tesla kind of owned the landscape,” Lambert said. “But if you walk around the show right now, you’ll find a really nice spread of electric vehicles in virtually every major factory display.”

Walz in some ways has worked to help Minnesotans branch out from Tesla. In 2021, his administration adopted California emissions standards that require automakers to deliver more electric vehicles for sale in Minnesota.

Those rules, in effect now for model year 2025 vehicles, were politically controversial and opposed by Minnesota auto dealers, but aimed at increasing EV options for consumers.

“The Governor is making it easier and more affordable for Minnesotans to buy any brand of electric vehicle,” said Walz spokeswoman Claire Lancaster.

Kukkonen said Tesla has not been competitive in some segments, such as pickups where Tesla has struggled to sell its stock of Cybertrucks.

Lambert said a lack of options for trucks is what is truly limiting EV sales in Minnesota. “We don’t have a truck that can go 400 miles on a single charge and can tow things and can operate in cold weather,” he said. “Once we get that, that’s a game changer.”

That’s a problem for the state’s climate goals.

The MPCA report on emissions says consumer preference for larger cars and trucks that pollute more than small ones “challenges the pace” at which EVs and regulations can cut emissions.

Tesla is still critical in one aspect of Minnesota’s EV market: public charging infrastructure.

Most vehicle charging happens at home, but drivers sometimes need to power up on the go. Tesla has the most extensive fast-charging network in Minnesota and many consider it to be the most reliable one.

Jonathan Nye of St. Paul had a Tesla Model S for more than seven years but then bought an electric 2025 Chevrolet Silverado because he wanted to pull a trailer.

“I’ll admit, I miss my Tesla experience with so many ‘working’ superchargers,” he said in an April post in a Facebook group for Minnesota EV owners. “I certainly hope this changes soon, as it doesn’t encourage others to drive electric. I’m still a strong believer and won’t give up.”

Nye said in a follow-up message to the Minnesota Star Tribune that he’s gradually finding non-Tesla chargers in public to be reliable and easy to use, though more expensive than he anticipated. Nye said Tesla has “fantastic infrastructure” and he was “spoiled” by a free charging incentive at the time.

Nevertheless, Tesla’s influence in charging is waning. Two other brands have far more public Level 2 charging ports, which are slower. Those stations tend to be at destinations like a hotel where someone can park for a long period of time. ZEF Energy, which is based in Minneapolis, now has a fast-charging network in Minnesota that is close to Tesla in number of public ports.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has paid for the installation of about 120 Level 2 chargers and 60 direct-current (DC) fast chargers with money from a settlement with Volkswagen.

The agency is now funding only fast chargers with the remaining settlement money, said MPCA spokesman Dan Ruiter. Tesla has never applied for Volkswagen money, meaning the funding distributed by the Walz administration has boosted Tesla competitors.

Kukkonen said the growth of Tesla’s charging network has slowed considerably in Minnesota and across the country, while the coverage and reliability of other companies has improved.

There’s another factor that proves Tesla’s importance but also helps other EV car brands.

Kukkonen said Tesla’s charging ports have become the nationwide standard and the company now allows non-Tesla cars to charge at their public infrastructure. In other words, the best charging option might be Tesla station. But drivers can charge other vehicle brands at those Tesla sites, especially now that adapters are widely available.

Tesla still takes in money from its public chargers, Kukkonen said, meaning anyone who wants to avoid the company altogether would have to skip those stations.

Overall, Minnesotans bought a record number of electric vehicles in 2024. Those sales lagged the national average but were boosted by federal tax credits and state-approved rebates.

The fallout from Musk’s work with Trump will affect the state’s EV market may just be a gain for other EV brands.

After Walz mocked Tesla’s falling stock price in March, Musk responded by calling Walz a “jerk” and a “creep.” Walz later said he said he was only joking about Tesla, and that his opposition was focused on widespread cost cuts ordered by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

In late April, Walz told a crowd in Minneapolis that he never expected to be in a “feud” with Musk.

“I‘m like ‘That’s probably not very smart,’ he’s got a lot of money,” Walz joked.