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 persuade 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.

Walz’s fellow Democrats are abandoning Tesla in droves, but 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 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 saw the first real jump in EV sales.

Still, Tesla’s dominance may have peaked in 2020, when the brand made up more than half of all newly registered EVs in Minnesota. That counts new car sales, but can include people registering EVs bought in another state or used EVs changing hands.

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

Kukkonen said one reason is that buyers have more options.

There are more than 100 models of EVs available in the state now, and only a handful are Teslas. And many comparable cars 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.

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.

It’s unclear if a U.S. Senate vote on Thursday to block California’s authority to ban the sale of most new gas-powered cars by 2035 will impact Minnesota’s regulations, which are based on an earlier version of California’s auto emissions rules. Walz has not pursued adopting California’s tougher restrictions.

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

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

The MPCA report on emissions says buyers’ 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 to one aspect of Minnesota’s EV market, the 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.

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.

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 also is waning when it comes to charging. 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. ZEF Energy, based in Minneapolis, has a fast-charging network in Minnesota that is close to Tesla in the 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 funding only fast chargers with the remaining settlement money, said MPCA spokesman Dan Ruiter. Tesla has never applied for the 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 others has improved.

Kukkonen said Tesla’s charging ports have become the nationwide standard and the company now allows non-Tesla cars to charge at its public infrastructure. In other words, the best charging option can still be a Tesla station. And drivers can charge other vehicle brands at those 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. The 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 in ways that can benefit 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.