Sam Krahn 
Automotive rivals bring up some of the best debates a car enthusiast can have. Ferrari vs Lamborghini. Mercedes vs BMW vs Audi. And of course, Mustang vs Camaro vs Challenger. But with Tesla, their sometimes strange fanbase takes these kind of rivalries way too far. That’s just what Sergio Rodriguez, also a Tesla Model X owner, experienced when he took delivery of his new 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E. In his interview with the Detroit Free Press, Rodriguez said he received death threats and other strange messages from members of the Tesla community after he said some positive things about his Mach-E in a Tesla Facebook Group.
It’s not like Rodriguez, a U.S. Army veteran who specialized in explosive ordnance disposal and served two tours in Iraq, bashed Tesla. He simply said he enjoyed his 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E. People are allowed to do this, but some Tesla fans seemingly don’t realize this.
Rodriguez said the troubling comments included, “I hope the car loses control and crashes,” “The car is going to catch fire when you’re driving it,” “You let big oil buy you?,” and “How much are people paying you?” He even had a user private message him “You’re full of s*** and I know what your Tesla looks like. If I see it …” And these are only a handful of the responses.
Rodriguez said he reported all and any hurtful and threatening messages, and a lot of them have been taken down from the group. But he estimates a whopping 65 percent of comments and private messages in response to his Ford Mustang Mach-E opinion were “bashing” him. While we’d like to think these kind of people occupy a small corner in the Tesla community, the Facebook group most of the threats came from has around 87,000 members.
To everyone outside of the cult-like fanbase, this isn’t normal behavior. Rodriguez said he’s even considering selling his Tesla Model X because he doesn’t want to be associated with these kinds of people. Unfortunately, these Tesla stans think they are environmental crusaders and defending their brand tirelessly, but they are really dragging Tesla’s reputation down even further. Hopefully they can realize how a healthy rivalry works in the automotive industry, because Tesla vs Mach-E could become one to watch.
