'Cybertruck ownership comes with ... interesting fan mail'

Muskmobile Facebook group becomes support circle for anti-Tesla abuse

Comment Since Elon Musk vigorously threw up a gesture once thought reprehensible at a Trump rally on the day of the president's inauguration, owning a Tesla has taken on a whole new meaning for some.

And it's owners of the Cybertruck – Tesla's most conspicuous and dorky model – who are bearing the brunt.

At this point, we must doff our cap to the investigative technohipsters at 404 Media for not only braving Facebook, but apparently infiltrating a Facebook group called "Cybertruck Owners Only."

But far from being the circle jerk you'd expect from Cybertruck owners (OK, there is a lot of that, too), the page has recently morphed into a support group for anti-Tesla abuse.

Users "nearly daily" post images and videos capturing notes left saying things like "WHAT'S ELON'S §$% TASTE LIKE?" or "NAZI CAR," people kicking the vehicles or throwing slices of cheese at them, which is a novel form of peaceful protest we can get behind.

Musk appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast last week, where he defended his rally gesture, shown above, as "meant in the most positive spirit possible." Rogan, who is rarely critical about anyone he interviews, conceded that "you did it with a little enthusiasm that probably wouldn't be recommended with hindsight." Here are some Cybertruck-themed excuses Musk could have used:

• "I was demonstrating the aerodynamic styling of the Cybertruck."
• "... the trajectory of dislike for Tesla."
• "... the maximum incline possible in a Cybertruck."
• "... the trajectory of the Tesla stock price on Planet Musk."
• "I was offering a high-five to every Cybertruck purchaser to make up for the rest of the world thinking they're douches."

Other examples include messages written in the dust on the truck's windows offering such pleasantries as "KYS" (that's "kill yourself" by the way), "Cyber Chode," "CUCK," and "SELL THIS," along with crude depictions of male genitalia in various states of arousal.

If you're not going to keep your light-colored car in a constant state of spotlessness, you are kind of asking for it, judging by messages we've seen written on the backs of white Ford Transits. And it seems Ford Transits are now cooler than Cybertrucks.

One of the more amusing posts accompanied by a video reads: "Just had a guy driving a Ford Fiesta flip me off. A Fiesta.... Like bruh... stay mad. I just hopped on the highway, seconds before this clip."

"I am baffled at how any male can have that much audacity while driving a Ford Fiesta," responds one supportive commenter. "Dude probably sits when he needs to take a piss."

Wow, if we were playing toxic masculinity bingo, we'd have won! Firstly, normal people don't care what car they or anyone else is driving (I can't even remember what model of Ford we have). Anything else is fragile ego.

Secondly, has he never tried to use a toilet in the pitch black so as not to disturb a loved one? Or does this guy just let it rip and expect someone else to clean up?

Thirdly, what's wrong with a Fiesta? The Cybertruck has just had its umpteenth recall, while the Fiesta is backed by nearly five decades of iterative engineering.

Most of the abuse seems harmless and reversible – unless a finger smear or a slice of cheese is enough to damage the Cybertruck. Because it might be. As The Register reported a year ago, the Muskmobiles appear to be susceptible to corrosion from driving in the rain – a fairly common weather phenomenon – going by owner reports.

However, some protests take on a darker side. Lest you're brushing up on your "swasticar" puns for a bout of petty vandalism, note that Cybertrucks are equipped with a "Sentry Mode," which records constantly through exterior cameras for security. This is how much of the abuse is reported to the group. "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," one user wrote.

Thankfully, we haven't quite gone all-in on that level of dystopia yet, but 404 writes: "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."

Most group members seem to lean into their newfound reputation – as if it wasn't cringeworthy to begin with – "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," as 404 so eloquently puts it.

"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 wrote. "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," said another.

"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," wrote another, even though these days it seems Musk couldn't be further from Tesla's original mission.

Elsewhere, Tesla sales are crashing, and more self-aware owners are trading in their models. "I didn't want to be saddled with a vehicle that was associated with something so awful," one told The Guardian. "When you own a vehicle like that, you are advertising for that company."

Meanwhile, Musk's behavior is getting so erratic that we're pining for the days of "let that sink in." He's taken a metaphorical chainsaw to US government under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), wielded a literal chainsaw gifted to him by Argentine President Javier Milei at the Conservative Political Action Conference, and at the same event actually uttered: "I am become meme." What even is this timeline?

Gestures aside, if people don't want his cars anymore, who are we to argue? It's called "the consequences of your actions" – something, we admit, Musk is not at all acquainted with. ®