The fallout from Elon Musk’s plunge into politics a year ago is still hammering his Tesla business as both sales and profits dropped sharply again in the latest quarter.

The recent struggles at Tesla have coincided with increased competition in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, posing a question for analysts: Is Musk partially to blame? Experts who spoke to ABC News acknowledged the surge of EV competition and credited Musk with pushing the company into potential growth areas like humanoid robots and self-driving taxis,