Hardly any vehicle is as controversial as the Tesla Cybertruck. Even seasoned automotive designers don’t agree on whether you should love it or hate it. In the USA, the audience also doesn’t seem to be sure how best to react to one of the passing monsters.
In the “Portland Press Herald” a driver who owns one of only two Cybertrucks in the entire US state of Maine reports on his experiences – and they are quite extreme.
The man named Travis Carter made a big mistake. Because he describes himself as a shy person who avoids the spotlight. It’s not entirely clear why you would buy the most eye-catching truck of the last 30 years.
But Carter goes one step further. He spoke to the newspaper in an effective manner about his experiences with his Cybertruck. And gets even more attention for it.
Carter reports that at every red light, people immediately pull out their cameras and take photos of him – or rather his car.
But that’s probably not enough: some of the reactions to his car are quite extreme. The most common gesture he says he has to endure is the middle finger. In the USA it cannot be assumed that this is criticism of the dimensions of his huge car, but that the anger is definitely directed against the Tesla Cybertruck in particular. After all, the United States is known as the home of the largest cars in the world, so huge pickups are not a rare sight.
“I’m really amazed at how angry people get,” Carter explains. It also happens again and again that his car is full of spit when he parks it somewhere, he adds. He has also been shouted at and slowed down at traffic lights. He couldn’t say exactly why that was and where the anger came from.
Overall, the negative reactions only make up around a quarter of the interactions with strangers, sums up Carter, but the great attention has made him a very careful driver. “I have to be very polite,” he explains.
Carter says that he speaks to up to 100 people a day who are interested in his car. He can’t say whether he would buy the Cybertruck again knowing this. He’s making the most of the unwanted (but expected) attention. There’s a huge QR code on the side of the car that leads to his cannabis shop. “People came to see the truck and then bought something,” he says happily.
