A Cybertruck owner in Worcester, Massachusetts, tried to trade in his gold 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 were regularly harassed for driving it. People would make offensive hand gestures or shout at them — someone even vandalized his truck by putting a Nazi sticker on it. The Nazis, together with their collaborators, killed six million Jews during the Holocaust.
Jaroje said that the harassment was starting to affect his family. His children became frightened by the hostilities, and his wife now refuses to drive the truck. “My wife and children do not 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 would not accept him.
Harassment cases like this could hinder the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, which are crucial to reducing people’s dependence on dirty energy sources such as oil and gas.
The EPA noted that burning gas and diesel releases gases that trap heat. EVs can help reduce that pollution because they don’t produce tailpipe exhaust. Some drivers are still hesitant to switch to EVs because of myths about range anxiety, according to US News and World Report, and concerns about pollution created by battery production.
Even with the mining required for EV batteries, a researcher from the University of Oxford revealed that the world extracts much more coal, oil and gas – about 16.5 billion tons a year, compared to about 7.7 million tons of minerals extracted for low-carbon technology.
Harassment and stigma increase 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 reduce stigma for early adopters.
Commentators on Jaroje’s post sympathized with him. A few fellow Cybertruck owners suggested ignoring the hostilities, but Jaroje said doing so could make things worse.
“It’s not a ‘be cool’ sticker. It’s someone who accuses me of being a Nazi and tells me to buzz off. The truck has been scratched many times, and I fixed it without a problem. That ignorant mentality may have someone throw rocks at the truck next time if we don’t sit out and tell these freaks to stop,” Jaroje wrote in response to a comment.
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