A Facebook group for Cybertruck owners is full of videos and photos of passersby and other drivers flicking them off, leaving notes that say “WHAT’S ELON’S CUM TASTE LIKE?,” and “NAZI CAR,” and people kicking their cars, throwing slices of cheese at it, etc.
This genre of post is being made nearly daily in a group called “Cybertruck Owners Only,” a development that shows two things. The wider protests and backlash against Elon Musk at Tesla dealerships is, at the very least, making it uncomfortable for some people to own a Cybertruck. The protests also highlight that Cybertrucks are outfitted with many cameras that are always recording in “Sentry Mode,” and that a community of Cybertruck owners are sometimes trying to identify people using this footage.
In a video taken from a Cybertruck of a man throwing American cheese slices at the windshield of a Cybertruck, many comments suggest filing a police report and attempting to dox the man by posting a screengrab of his face to social media: “Freeze frame and blow up his face. Go on all the social media platforms and post your video. I would file a police report stating that if he is willing to do this in public, then he obviously has some type of vendetta against me, and therefore, I feel threatened and fearful for my life… the only way these people will learn [is] if they are shamed,” one comment reads. “Can you make an 8 x 11 print out of his face with a QR code that leads to the video so everybody in your city will know who this guy is and what he did?? can’t we just make him famous?”
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Others have suggested that Sentry Mode should use facial recognition to keep their trucks safe: “At the very least it should say ‘You are being recorded’ while describing the person. And on some Black Mirror level ish, at the most? Let it use facial recognition through the internet and call the offenders by their name while threatening legal actions.”
In at least one case, a Cybertruck owner claims to have identified a man who flicked off his Cybertruck in a road rage incident. The Facebook post shows the man was identified using a shirt he was wearing that showed his place of employment. He was then identified in a company photo and the group found his LinkedIn profile. The case was covered by the local news.
Another post shows images of words people had drawn on the side of a dirty Cybertruck with their fingers, which included “KYS [Kill Yourself],” “Cyber Chode,” “CUCK,” and two different penises, one of which was hairy and ejaculating. The owner of the Cybertruck posted videos taken by his Cybertruck that showed two snowboarders scrawling the art on the truck. A photo posted by the owner after “two washes” showed that one of the penises faintly remained on the car. Another commenter showed that someone had similarly written “SELL THIS” on the side of his dirty Cybertruck, while another posted a screengrab of a man spraying shaving cream on his Cybertruck.
Others have posted notes that have been left on their Cybertrucks, which include “WHAT’S ELON’S CUM TASTE LIKE,” “NAZI CAR,” and “NAZI” left on three separate Cybertrucks. Other videos posted by Cybertruck owners show pedestrians and people in other vehicles flicking them off, giving them thumbs down gestures, pantomiming kicking motions or blowjobs, etc.
Backlash to Cybertrucks is quite widespread at the moment, as Elon Musk guts the federal government, aligns himself with far-right movements, and awards himself government contracts. “Tesla Takedown” protests have been organized at dealerships and showrooms all over the country. Nine people were arrested at a Manhattan Tesla dealership protest Saturday; a Tesla showroom in Owings Mills, Maryland was graffitied with “NO MUSK” and a swastika with an X through it, and a woman was arrested for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Colorado. Monday, a Tesla Supercharger in Massachusetts was set on fire; authorities there say they believe the fire was set intentionally.
All of this has made owning a Cybertruck unpleasant, as is the point of these protests. The overall sentiment in the Cybertruck Facebook owners group is hard to nail down, but many owners are leaning into the hate, chalking it up to something only “crazed” or “brainwashed” “libs” are doing, something only “poor” people who are “jealous” are doing, or various other forms of cope and seethe. A thread about a driver in a Ford Fiesta flicking off a Cybertruck is primarily about how Ford Fiestas are cheap, whereas Cybertrucks are expensive.
“Driving a Tesla these days feels like being the villain in WWE—the guy the fans love to hate. And honestly, I enjoy it,” one Cybertruck owner posted. “The funniest part is that their outrage isn’t even their own; it’s programmed into them, spoon-fed by media nonsense designed to make them hate Elon Musk and EVERY technology.”
“It is just a truck. It isn’t a political statement, it isn’t a statement of solidarity or a show of allegiance to anything or anyone other than renewable energy,” another post from someone who is clearly coping reads.
“Never owned a car that generated so much hate,” another reads. “I fucking embrace it.”
Scrolling through these posts is a good reminder that Cybertrucks and other Teslas can be set to record all the time in “Sentry” mode, meaning that these are not just trucks, they are surveillance devices on wheels.
A post from a prospective Cybertruck owner that says “I’m so nervous about there haters vandalizing my truck….any advice or perspective you can offer?” has 122 comments, with many of them saying that they should not worry because the Cybertruck is always recording: “Never turn off Sentry. It is like having a bodyguard protecting your truck all the time.” Another reads “Keep Sentry Mode on and park near buildings with cameras for secondary surveillance. The only way the haters will learn is through litigation.” A third reads “Drive with authority…f- these misfits! Think of this, you can do the same but they’ll be recorded…you won’t.”
Another post reads “Where’s the thread coordinating a show of support for Elon.
These protestors in front of Tesla Service Centers need to see what a majority looks like…A couple hundred CTs surrounding them might do it.”
Not every post in the group is about people hating Cybertrucks or Elon. Many of them are image posts of people showing off vinyl wraps they have put on their Cybertrucks, while others are videos of random people taking photos with the cars or who are curious.
One member posted a video of Mennonite men who just happened to be glancing at the car. Another posted a video of a clearly identifiable man who just happened to be walking by and turned to look at a parked Cybertruck. One Cybertruck owner posted a video of a mother and her two young children taking a photo in front of the truck. “Does this seem suspicious to anyone?” they said.