The electric vehicle takeover that seemed inevitable just a few years ago is facing new challenges in 2025. What started as a clear trajectory toward electrification has become a more complex story of policy changes, economic pressures, and shifting market dynamics.

We're examining what's really happening by looking at two key players: Tesla, the EV pioneer now navigating political controversy, and Ford, a traditional automaker taking a different approach to the electric transition.

The Changing Landscape: Policy, Economics, and Market Reality

The EV market is experiencing a perfect storm of challenges that are reshaping the entire industry. The Trump administration is looking to remove the American EV tax credit. These incentives, worth up to $7,500, have been crucial for many buyers' purchasing decisions, so ending the incentive is forcing both manufacturers and consumers to recalculate the economics of electric vehicle ownership. Adding to these pressures, new U.S. tariffs have made EV components more expensive, pushing up vehicle prices just as government incentives disappear. The total cost of ownership equation that once favored EVs is no longer as clear-cut as some thought.

What Consumers Are Really Saying

Social listening conversations from Infegy Starscape reveal the shift in public sentiment more clearly than any industry report. In March 2025, there were 22 million posts about electric vehicles. Tesla car fires made headlines and dominated conversations; the majority of these posts carry negative sentiment, with discussions focusing on concerns rather than enthusiasm. (Figure 1)


Figure 1: Positive and negative sentiment towards EVs over the last year (August 2024 - August 2025);  Infegy Social Dataset.

Beyond this specific incident, the data shows people consistently complaining about core issues like charging infrastructure, depreciation over time, reseller woes, and worries of tax incentive losses (Figure 2). 


Figure 2: Negative EV conversations over the last year word cloud (August 2024 - August 2025); Infegy Social Dataset.

Tale of Two Strategies: Tesla and Ford

The current market challenges have exposed fundamentally different approaches between industry leaders, with Tesla and Ford representing contrasting realities of how companies have to navigate the evolving EV landscape.

The Tesla Problem

Tesla faces a unique challenge that goes beyond typical business competition. Elon Musk's political public persona has created an association between Tesla ownership and political identity in the past year. People now connect Tesla with government drama from Musk’s DOGE work and the political controversy that followed, which affects how potential buyers view the brand. (Figures 3-4) We see the hashtag #TeslaTakedown, which is filled with people wanting to bring down the company because of Elon.


Figure 3: Hashtags for EV conversations (August 2024 - August 2025); Infegy Social Dataset.

Figure 4: Drilldown for TeslaTakedown Hashtag (August 2024 - August 2025); Infegy Social Dataset.

They’ve ended up on the bad side of the groups that are more likely to buy an EV, turning their biggest fans into their haters. The question facing Tesla is whether the company can separate its brand from these political associations or if this damage is permanent. The conversations linking Tesla discussions to political topics create a big challenge for an automotive brand. 

Ford's Different Approach

Ford has taken a notably different path, staying out of political controversies and focusing instead on products and business fundamentals. In August 2025, Ford saw a surge in comments on its content with rumors about an upcoming cheaper EV model. (Figure 5) Reaching over 10k comments on multiple platforms in a mere couple of days. 


Figure 5: Ford's EV comments (August 2025 - August 2025); Infegy Social Dataset.

The company is investing approximately $5 billion and creating 4,000 jobs to deliver a new pickup and produce advanced prismatic LFP batteries (Figure 6). According to CBS News, CEO Jim Farley called this new assembly line the most radical change at Ford "since the Model T." With a new model to start at $30,000, emphasizing the company's commitment to revolutionizing its manufacturing approach for the electric vehicle era.


Figure 6: Ford's EV Comments Drilldown (August 2025 - August 2025); Infegy Social Dataset.

Ford has the luxury of focusing on operational fundamentals instead of having to deal with political controversies, demonstrating that steady, apolitical investment may be more effective than personality-driven leadership in the current market environment.

The Road Ahead: A More Complicated Future

EVs aren't dead, but they're not winning in the way some initially thought they would. The companies that succeed will be those that can navigate both technical challenges and the political realities now defining the EV market. This means the electric vehicle revolution will continue, but it will unfold differently than anyone expected.

Key Takeaways for Brands

• Stay politically neutral to avoid polarizing customers. Ford's apolitical approach enables them to focus on product development, whereas Tesla deals with brand controversies that hurt sales, regardless of vehicle quality.
• Prepare for economic headwinds, not just technical challenges. The removal of tax incentives and new tariffs creates a pricing problem that requires fundamental strategy shifts.
• Monitor social sentiment as an early warning system. Consumer frustration about missed deadlines, quality issues, and policy changes showed up in social media months before impacting sales metrics, giving brands time to adjust strategy.