Tesla owners are disguising their cars as other vehicles in what may be an attempt to avoid vandalism linked to outspoken founder Elon Musk.
Images posted on Reddit show a Tesla Cybertruck with “Toyota” stencilled across its tailgate and a Tesla Model S with a series of Mazda logos on its rear end.
Other examples include Tesla Model 3 vehicles with Honda badges, and another Model 3 with Audi’s four rings on the boot.
Reddit users hypothesized that owners could be distancing themselves from Elon Musk following his closer ties to far-right wing political groups and role in the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“Someone’s afraid of getting vandalised,” one Reddit user said.
“Imagine being so ashamed of driving a Tesla, you just have to do a brand change?” Said another.
Assuming that the vehicle owners were “embarrassed” to be linked to the brand, others said 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 target for graffiti this year following a gesture by Elon Musk interpreted by some people as a Nazi salute.
European protesters projected images of Adolf Hitler onto Tesla’s Berlin factory in protest of Musk’s political stance, and some owners overseas have returned to their cars to find slogans and logos spray painted onto their cars.
But Tesla owners have changed the badges on their cars for years, possibly as some form of in-joke to other drivers.
The latest batch of Tesla vandalism follows a protracted run of incidents involving Tesla cars being keyed by other motorists.
Many of the culprits were busted on camera by Tesla’s “Sentry” security system.
