Tesla house owners are disguising their automobiles as different automobiles in what could also be an try and keep away from vandalism linked to outspoken founder Elon Musk.
Photographs posted on Reddit present a Tesla Cybertruck with “Toyota” stencilled throughout its tailgate and a Tesla Mannequin S with a collection of Mazda logos on its rear finish.
Different examples embrace Tesla Mannequin 3 automobiles with Honda badges, and one other Mannequin 3 with Audi’s 4 rings on the boot.
Reddit customers hypothesized that house owners might be distancing themselves from Elon Musk following his nearer ties to far-right wing political teams and position within the Trump Administration’s Division of Authorities Effectivity.
“Someone’s afraid of getting vandalised,” one Reddit person mentioned.
“Imagine being so ashamed of driving a Tesla, you just have to do a brand change?” Mentioned one other.
Assuming that the automobile house owners had been “embarrassed” to be linked to the model, others mentioned that “in London I have seen at least two Teslas with their badges removed, I’m not sure if its kids or the owners just don’t want to risk a random brick thrown at the car”.
Tesla has been a goal for graffiti this 12 months following a gesture by Elon Musk interpreted by some folks as a Nazi salute.
European protesters projected photos of Adolf Hitler onto Tesla’s Berlin manufacturing facility in protest of Musk’s political stance, and a few house owners abroad have returned to their automobiles to search out slogans and logos spray painted onto their automobiles.
However Tesla house owners have modified the badges on their automobiles for years, presumably as some type of in-joke to different drivers.
The most recent batch of Tesla vandalism follows a protracted run of incidents involving Tesla automobiles being keyed by different motorists.
Lots of the culprits had been busted on digicam by Tesla’s “Sentry” safety system.
