Six months after Elon Musk left the Trump administration to the great relief of Tesla investors worried about boycotts, the world’s richest man has announced some good news: Sales of Tesla cars are back.

Well, maybe.

The electrical vehicle maker run by Musk reported Thursday that car sales jumped 7% in the three months through September after plunging for most of the year as people turned off by his embrace of President Donald Trump and far right politicians in Europe balked at buying his cars.

But the jump comes with a significant caveat: Tesla benefited from consumers taking advantage of a $7,500 tax credit before it expired on Sept. 30, a surge in buying that helped all EV makers.

In fact, many Tesla rivals saw sales jump more. Fellow EV maker Rivian Automotive reported a 32% increa

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