A Cybertruck owner in Worcester, Massachusetts, tried to trade in his golden Tesla Cybertruck after he and his family faced constant harassment, but the company refused, Torque News reported.
Kumait Jaroje shared on the Tesla Cybertruck Enthusiast Facebook group that he and his family have been regularly harassed for driving it. People would make offensive hand gestures or yell at them — someone even vandalized his truck by putting a Nazi sticker on it.
In 2024, Tesla CEO Elon Musk drew enough attention for amplifying an antisemitic conspiracy theory that he agreed to tour Auschwitz, one of the concentration camps where the Nazis, along with their collaborators, murdered six million Jews during the Holocaust. Musk said he had been naive and found the tour educational, but through that and later controversies, such as his Grok AI chatbot calling itself "MechaHitler," the reputation has followed Musk and Tesla ever since.
Jaroje said that the harassment was starting to affect his family. His children have become frightened by the hostilities, and his wife now refuses to drive the truck at all. "My wife and kids don't deserve this," he wrote in his Facebook post.
Out of concern for his family, Jaroje tried to trade in his Cybertruck at Tesla, but the company wouldn't accept it.
Instances of harassment or vandalism like this related to Teslas, Tesla chargers, or electric vehicles more broadly can hinder the widespread adoption of EVs, which are crucial in reducing people's reliance on dirty energy sources like oil and gas.
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The EPA noted that burning gas and diesel releases heat-trapping gases. EVs can help cut that pollution because they don't produce tailpipe exhaust. Some drivers still hesitate to switch to EVs because of myths about range anxiety, according to U.S. News and World Report, and concerns about the pollution created by battery production.
Even with the mining needed for EV batteries, a researcher from the University of Oxford revealed that the world extracts far more coal, oil, and gas — about 16.5 billion tons per year, compared with roughly 7.7 million tons of minerals mined for low-carbon technology.
Harassment and stigma can add barriers for people trying to make cleaner transportation choices. Greater public understanding of the benefits of EVs and how they reduce reliance on dirty energy can help decrease the stigma for early adopters.
Commenters on Jaroje's post sympathized with him. A few fellow Cybertruck owners suggested ignoring the hostilities, but Jaroje said that doing so might make things worse.
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"It is not a 'be cool' sticker. It is someone accusing me of being a Nazi and telling me to buzz off. The truck got scratched many times, and I fixed it without a problem. That ignorant mentality might have someone throw a rock at the truck next time if we don't stick out and tell these freaks to stop," Jaroje wrote in response to a comment.
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