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Tesla owner with Mustang Mach-E reports threats on social media from Tesla fans

TruckElectric

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Sergio Rodriguez never imagined saying nice things about his new Ford Mustang Mach-E would elicit death threats from Tesla owners on social media.

But this is 2021, after all. No one seems surprised by much.

What started this round of social media sparring was a tweet on Saturday by Jace Craft-Miller, who picked up his Carbonized Gray Mustang Mach-E First Edition on March 29.

The 29-year-old sales project manager from Cleveland, Ohio, tweeted, "All these Tesla fanbois reach out saying how much they hate the Mach-E ... blah blah."

And Rodriguez, who was featured in the Free Press in early March, replied, "I've had them message me death threats over my joy with the Mach-E."

Rodriguez, 41, a U.S. Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq and specialized in explosive ordnance disposal, is now a military contractor living in Saint Marys, Georgia.

The fiery debate among Ford and Tesla owners reflects the intensity surrounding a growing all-electric market dominated by Tesla. CEO Elon Musk is widely credited as an innovative leader who helped transform public perception of the vehicles.

As a result, Tesla has been a darling of Wall Street with a market value that dwarfs all competitors and far exceeds the Detroit Three combined. Tesla cars, which some drivers compare to spaceships, are especially popular in California and China.

The Mach-E has been portrayed as the first serious competitor to Tesla in terms of sleek design, speed and handling.

Unsettled
When reading the threats from Tesla fans, Rodriguez said he didn't think to take screenshots before reporting the content to Facebook and Twitter.

"As messages were coming in, I was just hitting report," he told the Free Press on Saturday.

Rodriguez was so unsettled at 11:30 p.m. one night that he reached out to Mike Levine, Ford North America product communications manager, who himself had been targeted with relentless and harsh criticism online after defending Mach-E owners on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the posts submitted for review appear to have been removed.

Cybercab Robotaxi Tesla owner with Mustang Mach-E reports threats on social media from Tesla fans a7e2f245-8256-4cbf-b2f0-b08e72062756-sergio_car


Rodriguez said he was especially alarmed by comments on the Tesla Owners Worldwide private Facebook page, which listed 87,500 members on Saturday. A member had posted a story about his favorable Mach-E reviews and it unleashed a torrent of what he perceived to be disturbing attacks.

"One was, like, 'I hope the car loses control and crashes.' Or 'The car is going to catch fire when you're driving it,'" he said. "I took that as a threat. For you to have any kind of ill will on anybody, why would you say that? Then someone privately messaged me, 'You're full of s*** and I know what your Tesla looks like. If I see it …' That private message on Facebook was more threatening."

Someone in the Tesla Facebook group tagged Rodriguez, alerting him to comments.

"Before I knew it, about 65% of the comments were just bashing me," he said. "Part of me wants to get rid of my Tesla just not to have the association. A couple here and there, OK. But folks are commenting and saying disgusting things. 'You let big oil buy you?' and 'How much are people paying you?' If that's what's associated with being a Tesla owner, why do I want to be part of that group? It's not cool."



In response to the death threat tweet on Saturday, Levine replied, "So sorry to hear this. Horrifying. Hope you reported those."

A request for comment from Tesla on Sunday was not immediately answered.

A mission
Rodriguez flew to San Diego, California, to pick up his new SUV and drive it cross-country to the east coast in February. With a 2020 Tesla Model X in his garage, the electric vehicle advocate was curious to see how the high-profile all-electric vehicles compared. He shot video and posted it on YouTube. He has been active on social media, engaging with auto aficionados.

That has displeased Tesla fans.



"Some Tesla owners are fanatics of the brand and of Elon Musk," said veteran analyst John McElroy, "Autoline After Hours" host. "In their minds, they're on a messianic mission to save the planet. Anyone who is not with them is against them."

More:Elon Musk trolls GM, Chrysler on Twitter. Ford CEO responds with 1 word.

More:Tesla investor tweets praise for Mustang Mach-E, trashes Ford

Tesla fans have insisted online that Ford must be paying regular people to post nice things on social media about the Mach-E, which has garnered a number of honors including 2021 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year award in January, selected by some 50 international jurors.

Cybercab Robotaxi Tesla owner with Mustang Mach-E reports threats on social media from Tesla fans 636513005465820938-dream-car-07


When Karl Brauer, executive analyst at the car listing site iSeeCars.com, learned of the comments targeting Rodriguez, he said, "Why am I not surprised?"

"I’d like to think this represents an extremely small minority of fanatical Tesla owners," Brauer said. "It’s hard to believe it’s a genuine risk for Mach-E owners, but we sadly live in a world where every threat of violence has to be taken seriously."

The auto industry has had vicious conflict between brands in the past, Brauer said.

"There are stories of Japanese car owners in the Detroit area facing the same issue back in the '70s and '80s. It speaks to the evolution of the industry when a Ford owner can face any form of threat in the U.S.," he said. "Nobody threatens an opponent who is seen as a nonissue."

The aggressive response is revealing, Brauer said. "If Tesla owners are trying to show courage and confidence in the presence of a rival, they’re doing it wrong."

Cybercab Robotaxi Tesla owner with Mustang Mach-E reports threats on social media from Tesla fans 7081f-1f7c-4d98-a807-4b77b55c5034-Sergio_and_Pearl


While Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in March that "Mustang Mach-E Steals Major Tesla Sales," Tesla is still considered a global leader in all-electric vehicles.

Tesla was founded in 2003. Ford was founded in 1903.

On Friday, Tesla stock closed at $667.93 per share with a market value of $635 billion. Ford stock closed at $12.75 per share with a market value of $47.56 billion. By comparison, crosstown rival General Motors closed at $57.46 with a market value of $83.28 billion.

What Mach-E offers that Tesla does not, Ford CEO Jim Farley said in November, "For me, the Mach-E is the first true competitor with Tesla. It's got Detroit swagger."




SOURCE: Detroit Free Press
 

Frankenblob

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Wow, some deranged individuals sure trigger easy.
 

Ehninger1212

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We are just witnessing the scum of the earth. I am happy to see any company who ACTUALLY builds an EV. The Mach-E is a compelling cross over and I cant wait to sit in one. Also Kia/Hyundai EV6 and Ioniq 5 look like a blast to drive.

People are INSANE. I cant believe... sending death threats?! :mad:
 

Friday

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EV Dave (youtube) bought and drove a Mach E back from Colorado to East Coast. He documented it and struggled with the Nav and the charging. There were comments that were very hostile to his criticisms of the Mach E that were pretty disturbing. Anti-Tesla, pro-Anyone else types. This door swings both ways.

Death threats online are always a sign of an unhinged personality. And unfortunately, are not really that uncommon on the internet...............
 

duck

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Anyone who claims death threats on twitter suddenly becomes a hero. It's the power of victimhood.
 

duck

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EV Dave (youtube) bought and drove a Mach E back from Colorado to East Coast. He documented it and struggled with the Nav and the charging. There were comments that were very hostile to his criticisms of the Mach E that were pretty disturbing. Anti-Tesla, pro-Anyone else types. This door swings both ways.

Death threats online are always a sign of an unhinged personality. And unfortunately, are not really that uncommon on the internet...............
Someone said his ford will probably catch on fire. It's a sarcastic comment not a fatwa.
 

Friday

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I was talking about the commenters who were pro-Ford who didn't like he was finding issues with the Mach-E.
 

Luke42

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We are just witnessing the scum of the earth. I am happy to see any company who ACTUALLY builds an EV. The Mach-E is a compelling cross over and I cant wait to sit in one. Also Kia/Hyundai EV6 and Ioniq 5 look like a blast to drive.

People are INSANE. I cant believe... sending death threats?! :mad:
Yeah, I drove my GMC (AKA Chevy) Hybrid pickup truck over to the Ford dealer the other night and asked them if I could drive a Ford hybrid pickup truck, because I wanted to see how much Ford could improve on what I already have.

If I can bridge the Ford/Chevy divide, surely the Tesla enthusiasts can have a little class about a nascent Tesla/Ford rivalry.

I'm just glad there's a rivalry. The fact that we have enough EVs to argue over which one is better is fantastic. We just to be classy and respectful about it.

P.S. For those who haven't been steeped in rural pickup truck culture, the Ford/Chevy rivalry is on par with any decades-long sportsball rivalry.
 

SHorzy

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EV’s, regardless of what make or model, are all good things. Compare your EV only to ICE vehicles.
 

datechboss101

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This is so common in the car community. Its nearly toxic, and those death threats are unsurprising at all. Tesla fanboys are a total different breed.

I personally love both EVs and ICE vehicles.
 

BryanMorera

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Anyone who sends any sort of harassment, let alone death threats, simply for posting about a legitimate competitor to Tesla truly does not understand Tesla's mission. See quotes from Elon below:

The mission of Tesla is "to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bring compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible." - Elon Musk


"The reason for me to do it is not because I saw a huge market opportunity. It was clear that we were not going to see electric cars from major car manufacturers," Musk said, as reported by Techcrunch. “The industry was operating under two false premises. One, that you could not create a compelling electric car. And two, that no one would buy it.”
"Now that we’ve become profitable, we expect that other manufacturers will get into the electric car market.”
 

Crissa

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Yeah, the Ford EV is proof of concept for Tesla. Companies get really risk adverse. But Tesla proved the risk was worth it.

I watch Transport Evolved and whenever she covers Tesla, she gets trolls (and some death threats) which switch back and forth about her being either in the bank for the company or full of FUD. Same for the negative stories about Ford and Chevy this last year.

There are some people out there with way too much free time and way too much investment.

Even 'Tesla Time News' criticizes Tesla when the company doesn't live up to its promise. Like, how could you not?

-Crissa
 
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Old Pro

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Wow, some deranged individuals sure trigger easy.
I spotted the new E-Ford Mustang at a Costco parking lot close to home. It's encouraging to see additional car makers getting into the EV game. My opinion of what I saw? The E-Mustang will not pose a serious design challenge to any Tesla. It looks like a vehicle designed by committee.
 
 
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