Cybertruck Hate Comes To Car Crazy Los Angeles: 'It's Been A Wild Ride' Says Owner (2025)

The Tesla Cybertruck has become the focus of the most extreme Tesla hostility, directed indiscriminately at innocent people.

My immediate community in Los Angeles – a hotbed of car culture – is dense with Teslas. And that includes three households with Cybertrucks within walking distance. My closest neighbor with a Cybertruck is only a few houses away. He was one of the first to snap up the Foundation Series Cybertruck that came out in late 2023. He got his when production ramped up in the first few months of 2024. Like many owners, he’s not political (as far as I can tell). He simply liked the Tesla pickup. And he raved about it when he let me take it for a test drive in April of last year. And other drivers often gave him a thumbs up when he was on the road, he said.

But that was then. After Tesla CEO Elon Musk was appointed to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, things went south. My neighbor became a convenient target for anti-Musk sentiment. That sentiment has turned violent in some cases. The FBI is now investigating attacks, including Tesla vehicles being shot at and set on fire (via CBS News) in Las Vegas. In Kansas City, a fire at a Tesla dealership damaged several Cybertrucks.

“It’s definitely been a wild ride owning a Cybertruck. At first, it was all thumbs up, people taking photos, and tons of attention felt like a rockstar. But lately, it’s taken a turn,” he said. “Now I’m getting daily middle fingers from the Elon haters, and even caught someone giving a Hitler salute. To top it off, someone actually stole one of my wheel caps. It’s been… something else,” he said.

Right outside the community we both live in “a couple in a Honda accord flipped me off,” he said. “No verbal confrontations. Just a bunch of flipping off, head shaking, and thumbs down,” he said.

Can’t separate Tesla owners from Elon

Fringe Tesla haters can’t seem to separate a complete stranger, who may be politically disengaged, from Elon Musk – who has become a lightning rod because of his support for conservative causes and role in the Trump administration. “It’s kind of wild how a car brand has turned into a political talking point,” he said. “It sucks that people can’t separate Tesla owners from Elon. He’s just one guy. I don’t think Model Y owners are getting much flak, but Cybertruck owners? Totally different story. That truck was already super polarizing because of how it looks, and now with Elon being more vocal politically, it’s just made things even more divisive,” he said.

Tesla goes from progressive to reactionary

Not too long ago owning a Tesla was considered progressive. That was then. “It’s just wild how buying a Tesla used to be one of the most progressive things you could do. The shift has been insane. People forget that most Tesla owners just bought the car because it was innovative or good for the environment, not because they were trying to make some political statement,” he said.