Darin McLeskey says he bought his first Tesla “before I knew Elon was awesome”.

It was a Tesla Model S with 50,000 miles on the clock that he collected from San Diego in 2019, flying down with his brother to California before driving it to the other end of the country to his home in Michigan.

Mr McLeskey, a real estate broker, has since bought five Teslas in total, currently he owns three, and, with a daughter expected to join his growing family any day now, is on the lookout for more.

US media has been saturated with Tesla owners renouncing their electric cars after Mr Musk poured almost $300 million into Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, then entered his administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Once an elite liberal status symbol used to show off green credentials, and show up their neighbour’s gas-guzzling SUVs, the vehicles are now synonymous with Maga.

Fury with Mr Musk has reached such a fever pitch that some are firebombing Teslas parked in dealerships and on the streets.