<h2>Wipe Out</h2>
Tesla has canceled several Cybertruck deliveries, with users on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum <a href="https://www.cybertruckownersclub.com/forum/threads/cybertruck-deliveries-suspended-temporarily-due-to-windshield-wiper-motor-issue.18736/">citing</a> a safety issue affecting the pickup's gigantic windshield wiper.
The divisive truck sports an enormous windshield, forcing the EV maker to get creative with the wiper.
The company came up with a <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/cybertruck-windshield-wiper-floppy">hilariously floppy stalk</a> that measures a whopping 62 inches in length — the wiper blade alone <a href="https://x.com/CybertruckPhoto/status/1718718948429140454">measures 50 inches</a> — requiring a beefy motor to keep it in motion.
Given many <a href="https://www.cybertruckownersclub.com/forum/threads/cybertruck-deliveries-suspended-temporarily-due-to-windshield-wiper-motor-issue.18736/#post-338794">reports</a> of that motor failing, though, the current hardware is seemingly not up to snuff, adding to an <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/cybertruck-owners-forum-breakdowns">already lengthy list of technical issues</a> plaguing customers who've spent up to $100,000 on the truck.
<h2>Truck Yourself</h2>
As <a href="https://electrek.co/2024/06/15/tesla-cybertruck-deliveries-halted-amid-problem-giant-windshield-wiper/">Electrek reports</a>, the unusual design has already turned out to be a headache for many Cybertruck owners. In the publication's review of the truck, the wiper had a mind of its own, and often stayed "down as a resting position rather than up."
Now, several users on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum are reporting that their deliveries have been postponed by at least a week.
"Apparently a new safety issue was discovered with the windshield wiper motor," one user <a href="https://www.cybertruckownersclub.com/forum/threads/cybertruck-deliveries-suspended-temporarily-due-to-windshield-wiper-motor-issue.18736/">wrote</a>.
While it may sound like a small detail, the wiper serves an incredibly important function.
"Had to sit in a Dunkin Donuts for 3.5 hours and call Tesla roadside assistance because I couldn’t see," one user <a href="https://www.cybertruckownersclub.com/forum/threads/cybertruck-deliveries-suspended-temporarily-due-to-windshield-wiper-motor-issue.18736/#post-338797">recalled</a> after it started heavily raining. "They took it to the [service center] and said it would be a few weeks before the wiper motor could be replaced."
Tesla has yet to publicly comment on the matter and it's unclear how widespread the issue is or if a recall will be issued.
But it wouldn't be the first. The company has already had to <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-recalling-cybertrucks-accelerator">recall all of the Cybertrucks</a> it had ever sold in April over a glaring design flaw that could cause the pickup's accelerator pedal to get stuck.
More on the Cybertruck: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/charging-cable-stuck-in-cybertruck">Man Annoyed When Charging Cable Gets Stuck in Cybertruck</a>

Hand Squeegee

Cybertruck owners can't catch a break.

Tesla Cancels Cybertruck Deliveries After Their Gigantic Windshield Wipers Start Failing

<h2>Cyberstuck</h2>
A viral TikTok shows a frustrated Tesla owner trying to figure out what to do when his charging cable gets stuck in his Cybertruck. Or, as the folks at the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CyberStuck/comments/1df9kce/cybercharger_got_cyberstuck/">r/CyberStuck subreddit</a> put it: "Cybercharger got cyberstuck."
The <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyjudkins2/video/7379388865796181290">TikTok</a> shows the Cybertruck's owner — Tesla enthusiast <a href="https://x.com/jeremyjudkins_">Jeremy Judkins</a> — struggling to figure out what to do with the stuck cable. Like other electric vehicles, the truck won't allow its driver to drive off until the cable is unplugged. So, even when Judkins tries to wrap up the cable and toss it in the bed for the time being, he couldn't, as he demonstrated in the clip.
"I thought I could just throw the charger in the back of the Cybertruck," Judkins laments. "Heck, that's what a truck's for, right? It's got a bed."
Finally, the frustrated owner realized he could open a secret "door" — which, we should note, looks less like a door and more like just a breachable chunk of the truck's frame — to access what he describes as a "pull string." Give the string a tug, and it'll unlock the port.
Fair warning, though: as <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/news/tech/the-tesla-cybertrucks-fail-safe-for-a-stuck-charge-cable-can-actually-break-the-plug#:~:text=To%20manually%20disconnect%20the%20charger,Easy%20peasy%2C%20right%3F">spotted by Futurism sister site The Drive</a>, Tesla itself warns that Cybertruck owners should really, really try to avoid doing this. Why? You could damage your expensive truck. Also, you or your vehicle could get electrocuted.
<h2>Delicates</h2>
Indeed, according to a <a href="https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/cybertruck/en_us/GUID-06CC33AC-2D99-4E39-8E8A-B4248FA1FD9C.html">firm disclaimer</a> on Tesla's website, one should "use the release cable" — or "pull string," if you will — "only in situations where you can not release the charge cable using the usual methods." (Emphasis Tesla's.)
"Frequent use can damage the release cable or charging equipment," the disclaimer continues, adding that a "failure to follow" Tesla's instructions for finding the cable "can result in electric shock and serious injury or damage to the vehicle."
In sum, Tesla wants you to know that this method is a last-last-last resort, and zaps may occur if you don't break into the wall of your Tesla properly. And to that end, judging by Judkin's video, it doesn't look like an easy thing to do! As the Drive notes, the action causes a loud noise, and it even looks like Judkins felt a bit of a kickback from it.
Other folks online noticed that the process seems a bit... iffy.
"Not a criticism," wrote one TikTok commenter, "but that release mechanism and what surrounds it, looks really flimsy."
In any case, add the cyberstuck charger to the <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/cybertruck-steering-lag">ever-growing pile</a> of vehicular snags that Cybertruck owners <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/cybertruck-sliced-wrist-hospital">should watch out for</a>.
More on the Cybertruck: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/cybertruck-sliced-wrist-hospital">Driver Says He Still Loves His Cybertruck after It Sliced His Wrist Open and Sent Him to the Emergency Room</a>

Also, This

Seriously, try to avoid doing this.

Man Annoyed When Charging Cable Gets Stuck in Cybertruck

In an impassioned <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000110465924068792/tm2413800d20_defa14a.htm">letter</a> registered with US regulators, Tesla's chair Robyn Denholm pleaded with shareholders to approve the reinstatement of CEO Elon Musk's <a class="underline hover:text-futurism hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-begs-shareholders-vote-pay-package">astronomical $56 billion pay package</a>, which was <a class="underline hover:text-futurism hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-judge-voided">thrown out by a judge</a> in January.
The topic is on the agenda at next week's <a href="https://www.tesla.com/2024shareholdermeeting">annual shareholders meeting</a>, where investors will vote on the matter.
In the letter, Denholm argued that awarding Musk the payout would ensure that Tesla is "retaining Elon’s attention and motivating him to focus on achieving astonishing growth for our company."
And if shareholders were to vote against Musk's pay package, he could simply walk.
"What we recognized in 2018 and continue to recognize today is that one thing Elon most certainly does not have is unlimited time," Denholm wrote. "Nor does he face any shortage of ideas and other places he can make an incredible difference in the world."
"We want those ideas, that energy and that time to be at Tesla, for the benefit of you, our owners," she added. "But that requires reciprocal respect."
But if the mood at Tesla's otherwise pro-Musk subreddit is anything to go by, many shareholders would happily see Musk walk out the door.
"Don't threaten me with a good time," one Reddit user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/1d9r0xw/comment/l7f6per/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">wrote</a>.
"Please do," another argued. "Let's get Tesla finally focused on their cars again."
The movement behind denying Musk his mind-bogglingly large compensation plan <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/tesla-shareholders-advised-to-vote-against-musks-pay-package-d49a1c59">has been growing</a>, with proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis recommending that shareholders reject it. In response, Tesla <a class="underline hover:text-futurism hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://futurism.com/tesla-furious-analysts-elon-musk-pay-package">fired off a strongly-worded letter</a>, accusing the firm of using "faulty logic."
"Elon has acknowledged on the record that the 2018 Performance Award incentivized and motivated him to help Tesla achieve this extraordinary growth," the letter reads. "Glass Lewis may believe that Elon should have done so with more 'focus,' but the fact is that Tesla's performance speaks for itself."
But times have arguably changed considerably, with the EV maker tanking under Musk's leadership. Sales are plummeting, and the company is bracing for a tidal wave of cheaper (and likely better-built) alternatives to its offerings in the US.
Musk has also <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-politics-toxic-democrats">dragged Tesla's name through the mud</a> by going on <a href="https://futurism.com/civil-rights-groups-horrified-elon-musk-racist">racist rants</a>, alienating his non-right-wing following.
According to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/04/elon-musk-told-nvidia-to-ship-ai-chips-reserved-for-tesla-to-x-xai.html">emails obtained by CNBC</a> earlier this week, Musk <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/leaked-emails-elon-musk-ai-resources-tesla">has also been diverting important resources</a> to his social media platform X and his AI startup xAI, at the cost of Tesla's ongoing AI efforts. Earlier this year, investors also accused him of "<a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-accused-blackmailing-tesla-investors">blackmailing</a>" investors by <a class="underline hover:text-the-byte hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1746999488252703098">tweeting</a> that he's "uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI and robotics without having [about] 25 percent voting control."
Meanwhile, Musk has rocked the company with <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/teslas-layoff-emails-mean">several rounds of layoffs</a>. In April, he shocked the automotive industry by <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/firing-supercharger-team-elon-musk-reverses-course">sacking the company's entire Supercharger team</a>, alongside senior director of EV charging Rebecca Tinucci — reportedly as the result of personal disagreements.
Fans <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-fans-furious-supercharger-team">were infuriated by the move</a>, with many arguing that Musk had directly undermined the number one reason they had bought a Tesla in the first place.
Finally, there's Tesla's Cybertruck, which has disappointed fans with <a class="underline hover:text-the-byte hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://futurism.com/cybertruck-drivers-terrible-range-first-10000-miles">less-than-stellar range</a>, <a class="underline hover:text-the-byte hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://electrek.co/2024/01/12/tesla-cybertruck-delivered-ridiculous-body-defects/">shoddy workmanship</a>, <a class="underline hover:text-the-byte hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://futurism.com/cybertruck-owners-already-rusting">terribly-fitting body panels</a> — and <a class="underline hover:text-the-byte hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/youtuber-melts-down-lemon-cybertruck-replacement">plenty of lemons</a> arriving at customers' doorsteps.
In short, there are plenty of reasons to believe Musk no longer has the best interests of Tesla's shareholders at heart.
Musk's questionable actions have led to him losing a tremendous amount of goodwill, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that many of them could happily see him replaced with a CEO who isn't distracted by almost half a dozen other ventures.
More on the vote: <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-chair-elon-musk-tantrum-pay-package">Tesla Chair Warns That Elon Musk May Throw Tantrum If He Doesn't Get Huge Pay Package</a>

Walk Out the Door

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

Tesla Chair Warns Elon Musk Might Quit Tesla If He Doesn't Get His Pay Package. Fans Say Fine, We're Fed Up With Him

<h2>Need For Speed</h2>
An Air Force captain may be in the doghouse with his employer after lying about the cops shutting down a section of Las Vegas road for him so that he could go nearly 50 miles over the speed limit in his Cybertruck.
As <a href="https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/air-force-captain-speeding-cybertruck-video/">Vegas' KLAS news station reports</a>, Matthew Wallace's command at the nearby Creech Air Force Base is aware of the captain's since-deleted X-formerly-Twitter video that showed him bragging about how fast the futuristic electric truck can go in just a few seconds.
"Cybertruck makes a U Turn using only my pinky," Wallace wrote in a June 2 tweet. "Check mate."
Though the video was deleted soon after it went viral, quick-thinking X users saved it, and it's clear that the Air Force captain is basically doing drag racing stunts on a stretch of road where the speed limit is clearly marked at 35 miles per hour.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Some of you missed the video that <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWallace1701?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MattWallace1701</a> deleted after people questioned him about driving like an air force pilot on a local street. 
It&#39;s ok, some of us saved it. 
Original text: &quot;Cybertruck makes a U Turn using only my pinky. Check mate.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/HTPEq85u9o">pic.twitter.com/HTPEq85u9o</a>
&mdash; Andy Boenau (@Boenau) <a href="https://twitter.com/Boenau/status/1797944218540986641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
<h2>Pants On Fire</h2>
After his U-turn trick, Wallace accelerates rapidly and the car's display shows that he reached a speed of 83 mph. When other X users pointed this out, as KLAS notes, the captain chastised them with an apparent fib about the police letting him do it.
"Also you notice there’s not a single car or a single pedestrian on the road?" he responded, per the local report. "Ya think maybe I was smart enough to reach out to my cop buddies and let em know I was conducting a road test and they have cordoned off the area for me? Nice try buttercup."
When KLAS reached out to Las Vegas police to ask about the claim, however, a spokesperson said they were unaware of any such road closure. While the department said it can't cite Wallace for speeding based on the video alone, his superiors at the Air Force base being aware of it likely won't bode well for him.
In the <a href="https://www.usafa.edu/app/uploads/AFCW_HCRH_Jun17.pdf">Air Force Academy's cadet honor code</a>, service members-in-training vow to never "lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does." If that code extends to captains in the branch, Wallace may well be in big trouble.
More on Cybertruck shenanigans: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/cybertruck-cops-chase">Man Steals Cybertruck, Leads Cops on World's Lamest Car Chase</a>

Cyberstuck

"Nice try buttercup."

Cybertruck Driver Caught Lying That The Cops Let Him Go 50 Miles Over The Speed Limit

Tesla's Cybertruck is a major departure from conventional automotive design in many ways, from its peculiar shape to its use of stainless steel.
High on that list is also the pickup's steer-by-wire system, which translates the movement of the steering yoke to all four wheels using actuators, foregoing any physical connection.
Tesla <a href="https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/cybertruck/en_us/GUID-46420EE2-F6B0-4E95-88D5-E50CB3061101.html">claims</a> that the system means that "steering Cybertruck feels more responsive and requires less effort from the driver."
But if a recent video <a href="https://jalopnik.com/watch-the-tesla-cybertrucks-laggy-steer-by-wire-system-1851517502">spotted by Jalopnik</a> is anything to go by, the system suffers from a considerable delay between the movement of the steering yoke and the front wheels, raising questions over whether the truck is truly safe to drive.
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The cybertruck has a fly-by-wire steering wheel.... and it LAGS 😂😂😂 <a href="https://t.co/nUbrCXjU0r">pic.twitter.com/nUbrCXjU0r</a>
&mdash; Heart (@heartereum) <a href="https://twitter.com/heartereum/status/1797578760797192261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The video quickly drew plenty of derision.
"Imagine crashing because of your steering ping," one user <a href="https://x.com/0xOutis/status/1797579035675173183">joked</a>.
But as many other netizens have since pointed out, there may be a good reason for the delay.
Other users on Tesla CEO Elon Musk's social media platform X quickly amended the viral video with a Community note, arguing that "without steer by wire would take far longer to make that turn."
"It isn't lag," the note reads. "This is a safety feature."
They may be onto something. Going from one extreme of the steering range to the othertakes a considerable amount of movement of the steering wheel in a conventional car, as one Reddit user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/cybertruck/comments/1d8hw3v/testing_out_how_bad_the_lag_in_steer_by_wire_is/">demonstrated</a> with his Ford F-150. Besides, completing the maneuver seen in the video while traveling at speed could result in very erratic and potentially dangerous movement, and in extreme cases even flip the vehicle (although you'd have to try very hard to flip a 6,600-pound EV).
The Cybertruck's steering wheel is also designed to translate far more movement to the wheels with relatively little turning of the steering yoke at slower speeds. At highway speeds, that ratio becomes much lower to ensure stability on the road.
"There’s absolutely no real-life scenario in which you need to turn the wheels that quickly while stationary," one Reddit user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1d89dja/comment/l75l9da/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">pointed out</a>.
Car journalists have generally spoken highly of the steer-by-wire system, noting the truck's surprising agility. However, most have also noted that the unusual setup takes time to get used to.
But what about the responsiveness of the steering at higher speeds? What would happen if a Cybertruck driver had to swerve out of the way of an oncoming obstacle, a situation where every fraction of a second counts? As <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39327969#:~:text=1/8%20of,fast%20moving%20machine.">users on Hacker News pointed out</a>, even a minimal amount of lag could lead to a driver overreacting, making the situation worse.
Plenty of questions remain. For one, we don't know whether the delay is present when the Cybertruck is in motion, or how a possible delay would compare to a stationary one, especially when taking its variable turning ratio into account.
Nonetheless, there's a good case to be made that this particular video may have primarily served as a way to take a potshot at Tesla and draw a crowd.
To be clear, there are plenty of other valid criticisms of the unusual pickup, including <a href="https://futurism.com/cybertruck-drivers-terrible-range-first-10000-miles">terrible range</a>, <a href="https://electrek.co/2024/01/12/tesla-cybertruck-delivered-ridiculous-body-defects/">shoddy workmanship</a>, <a href="https://futurism.com/cybertruck-owners-already-rusting">besmirched body panels</a>, <a href="https://thedriven.io/2023/05/30/teslas-cybertruck-to-feature-a-stalk-less-rectangular-steering-wheel/">lack of manual controls</a>, a <a href="https://www.cybertruckownersclub.com/forum/threads/tonneau-cover-and-tailgate-physical-controls-not-working.13329/">finicky and unreliable truck bed cover</a> — and <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/youtuber-melts-down-lemon-cybertruck-replacement">lots of lemons</a> being delivered to customers.
"There's many, many, many, many reasons to hate on the Cybertruck but this isn't one of them," one Reddit user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1d89dja/comment/l74zd80/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">argued</a>.
More on the Cybertruck: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/pride-cybertruck">Elon Musk Is Gonna Blow a Gasket When He Sees This Pride-Themed Cybertruck</a>

Driving Ping

"Imagine crashing because of your steering ping."

The Cybertruck's Steering Has a Significant Lag

<h2>Tesla Cabal</h2>
A Tesla investor is suing CEO Elon Musk over allegedly massive insider trading, accusing him of selling $7.5 billion worth of Tesla shares in late 2022 while knowing that the EV maker wouldn't be able to meet expectations by the end of the year.
"By disposing of $7,530,113,926 worth of Tesla stock in November and December 2022 while he was in possession of adverse, material non-public information, E. Musk exploited his position at Tesla, and he breached his fiduciary duties to Tesla," reads the lawsuit, filed by shareholder Michael Perry.
In early January 2023, Tesla shares plummeted to a two-year low following disappointing sales — despite Musk promising an "epic end of year" and allegedly knowing as early as November that the carmaker wouldn't meet targets.
As such, Perry is calling for an estimated $3 billion to be returned to Tesla and seeking damages from the company's directors for their "reckless disregard."
The lawsuit highlights the growing rift between shareholders and the company's leadership. The relationship is already strained, with a shareholder vote next week deciding whether to reinstate Musk's <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-lays-off-staff-elon-musk-huge-bonus">astronomical $56 billion pay package</a>. Plenty of investors have since come forward, <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-furious-analysts-elon-musk-pay-package">urging shareholders to reject the payout</a>.
<h2>Shopping Spree</h2>
Perry is tapping judge Kathaleen McCormick, who already has a history of butting heads with the mercurial CEO. It was McCormick who <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-judge-voided">originally voided Musk's pay package</a>, determining that Musk and his board had far too much influence and failed to disclose the terms of his compensation to shareholders.
By knowingly selling billions of shares weeks before posting disappointing sales numbers, Perry alleges Musk "breached his fiduciary duties" to both Tesla and its shareholders.
"Musk profited from his misconduct and his exploitation of material and adverse inside information," Perry's suit argues, pointing out that Musk had said that Tesla was enjoying "excellent demand" and was expecting to "to sell every car we make as far into the future as we can see."
Musk's <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-selling-tesla-stock">major Tesla share sell-offs</a> — he <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/qai/2022/12/29/elon-musk-sells-another-36-billion-in-tesla-stock-to-prop-up-twitter/?sh=f0b7d066993f">unloaded around $22.9 billion</a> worth in 2022 alone — helped him fund his ill-advised purchase of Twitter, and have already come under plenty of scrutiny.
Just this week, Musk <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-30/elon-musk-agrees-to-testify-in-sec-probe-of-twitter-acquisition?sref=YfHlo0rL">agreed to testify</a> in the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation into his social media acquisition. The regulator is specifically looking at the Twitter stock he held prior to his purchase, and whether he missed the legal deadline for disclosing these existing standings.
Musk already <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-probed">has a long history</a> of <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/06/02/elon-musk-lawsuit-dogecoin-insider-trading-shiba-inu-twitter-logo/">being investigated</a> for possible insider trading.
When it comes to Perry's lawsuit against Musk, it remains to be seen whether the CEO's suspiciously timed $7.5 billion dump amounts to insider trading. But with McCormick holding the gavel, we're likely in for a wild ride in the courtroom.
More on Tesla: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/pride-cybertruck">Elon Musk Is Gonna Blow a Gasket When He Sees This Pride-Themed Cybertruck</a>

Tesla Dump

"Musk profited from his misconduct and his exploitation of material and adverse inside information."

Elon Musk Accused of Massive Insider Trading at Tesla

<h2>Slay or Nay?</h2>
During an LGBTQ pride parade in Los Angeles, someone attempted to slay the house down in a Cybertruck with rainbow wrapping — a hilarious bit of irony during the colorful celebration that the <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-black-students-low-iqs">notoriously-bigoted Elon Musk</a> would absolutely despise.
As shown in <a href="https://x.com/ScanmyphotosC/status/1797378582857294020">videos</a> and photos <a href="https://x.com/SunshineDuk/status/1797415671363690621">posted to social media</a> from the parade in LA's ritzy West Hollywood "<a href="https://laist.com/news/la-history/gay-west-hollywood-history-boystown-lgbt-inclusive-queer">gayborhood</a>," the pride-themed truck clearly turned heads among the giant crowd gathered for the festival.
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Doesn’t get much gayer than a rainbow cyber truck at a pride parade <a href="https://t.co/03l6WtJGZP">pic.twitter.com/03l6WtJGZP</a>
&mdash; Trust Fund Terry (@trustfundterry) <a href="https://twitter.com/trustfundterry/status/1797444279922487509?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
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It also drew jibes on the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/1d6nbb4/cybertruck_pride_west_hollywood_ca/">r/TeslaMotors subreddit</a> in which commentators joked that it looked "<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/1d6nbb4/comment/l6u1yb9/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">like a mango going ripe</a>" and was "<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/1d6nbb4/comment/l6trd4v/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">one of the least hideous</a>" Cybertrucks out there.
Others on the platform, and on the Musk-owned X-formerly-Twitter, however, pointed out how much the bigoted multi-hyphenate billionaire would hate one of his company's cars being used for such a celebration.
"Don't feed Elon's ego," <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/1d6nbb4/comment/l6uwkgn/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">one Redditor commented</a>. "He hates LQBTQ+, especially T's."
<h2>Tee'd Off</h2>
The trans flags on the brutalist pickup would probably be the main dealbreaker for Musk. As has been <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-cisgender-twitter">extensively</a> <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/elon-musk-trans-debate">documented</a>, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-transphobic-outbursts">Musk's penchant for transphobia</a>, while <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/grimes-asked-elon-musk-trans">relatively recent</a>, would certainly put him at odds with the message the rainbow-wrapped Cybertruck is sending.
Musk's anti-trans bigotry is all the more troubling considering that <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/elon-musk-trans-debate">one of his daughters is transgender</a> — though she, notably, <a href="https://www.today.com/parents/dads/elon-musk-daughter-school-biography-rcna103042">wants nothing to do with him</a>, and her transition may, as writer Walter Isaacson alleged in his biography of the billionaire that came out last fall, have "<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musk-went-anti-woke-after-his-daughter-jennas-transition-biographer-writes">triggered" her infamous father's transphobia</a>.
Back before he became the brain-wormed billionaire we all know and loathe, <a href="https://x.com/RocketJoy/status/1010190624497098753?lang=en">Musk's companies used to be</a> considered <a href="https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-marks-7th-straight-year-with-perfect-equality-rating-for-lgbtq-workers/">great places for LGBTQ people to work</a>. In fact, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/tesla-pride-month-elon-musk-anti-woke-1234744925/">Tesla actually used to sponsor pride events</a> and even <a href="https://x.com/TeslaOwnersUK/status/1493956119194128392">manufactured its own rainbow-colored cars</a> until 2022.
Much like racists who <a href="https://www.aaihs.org/a-brief-history-of-the-black-friend/">claim to have friends of color</a>, Musk recently posted on X that he encourages his so-called "gay friends" to have children "<a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1770809069558714695">for the continuance of civilization</a>" — a telling caveat that belies the billionaire's <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7ge4v/why-are-elon-musk-and-marc-andreesen-obsessed-with-birth-rates">bizarre focus on fertility and population growth</a> that <a href="https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/12/16/elon-musk-talks-x-advertising-and-birth-rates-in-rome">may also have contributed</a> his <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-08/musk-is-engaging-with-europe-s-far-right-but-voters-aren-t-so-sure">far-right turn</a> in recent years.
All told, Musk seems far less concerned with gay people doing their thing than with trans people (and <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/173201/elon-musk-calls-imprison-therapists-helping-trans-kids">trans children in particular</a>) <a href="https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/human-rights-campaign-condemns-x-elon-musk-for-accepting-timeline-takeover-of-transphobic-fact-free-documentary">accessing healthcare</a> — but given that he's both a "<a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/free-speech-elon-musk-throttling-exposure-twitter">free speech absolutist</a>" and a <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-furious-analysts-elon-musk-pay-package">greedy</a> <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-demon-mode">goblin</a>, maybe this use of a Cybertruck that somebody paid for or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/turnkey-dot_cybertruck-pride-prideparade-activity-7180956790623277056-kAdg/">leased out</a> won't bother him too much.
More on Musk: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-furious-trump-guilty">Elon Musk Fuming After Frenemy Donald Trump Found Guilty on All Counts</a>

For Your Pride

Happy Pride!

Elon Musk Is Gonna Blow a Gasket When He Sees This Pride-Themed Cybertruck

<h2>Wax on, Wax Off</h2>
In an apparent attempt to make his Tesla Cybertruck stand out even more on the road, owner Tyson Garvin machine polished his pickup's stainless steel "exoskeleton" to a mirrored finish, an ordeal that took a whole team an entire week to complete.
And we can't tell if we're impressed — or mortified by the accidents this mirror on wheels could cause.
"When we ordered it on Tesla's announcement day, I knew I was going to polish it that day," Garvin <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com./polished-cybertruck-stainless-steel-2024-6">told Business Insider</a>.
<h2>Upon Reflection</h2>
Garvin was addressing one of the most reported issues people have been having with the truck: the <a href="https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/dirty-tesla-cybertruck-delivery-turns-into-bloody-nightmare">miserable state it arrives in upon delivery</a>.
"I didn't like it when I first got it," he recalled. "It was actually very dirty when I picked it up. It was a very bad delivery experience. And just the look of it — the dull stainless steel isn't evenly brushed."
Other owners have already encountered unconventional issues with the strange choice of materials, including what <a href="https://futurism.com/cybertruck-owners-already-rusting">appears to be rust</a> and an owner's <a href="https://futurism.com/cybertruck-brick-car-wash">manual that advises against</a> washing its surface in full sunlight.
In short, there's a good reason carmakers don't use stainless steel for exteriors. Combine the rolled and carefully bent metal with Tesla's <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-criticisms-accurate-tesla-build-quality">historically awful quality assurance</a>, and you get the Cybertruck, an up to $100,000 vehicle with some <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/crushing-fingers-cybertruck-door">glaring fit and finish issues</a>.
Garvin, who is also known as "The Polishing Guy," took matters into his own hands, and took it upon himself, alongside three other team members, to shine his entire pickup, a job that took roughly a week and 120 hours of work, per BI.
"It doesn't have all the porous stainless steel that holds all the oil from your <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-cybertruck-might-be-fingerprint-magnet-stainless-steel-body-2023-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-analytics-product-module="body_link" data-analytics-post-depth="80" data-mrf-link="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-cybertruck-might-be-fingerprint-magnet-stainless-steel-body-2023-8" data-uri="1ffdb86d8022d3672d078d74748eab09">fingerprints</a>," he told the publication. "The more you clean it, the shinier it gets."
<figure id="attachment_321823" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-321823" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-321823" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2024/06/665d40e6d0b8e1c832cb165d-1200x900.webp" alt="" width="600" height="450" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-321823" class="wp-caption-text">Image Credit: Tyson Garvin</figcaption></figure>
Fortunately, the tailgate points slightly downward, which means headlights from following vehicles aren't perfectly reflected, according to Garvin.
Nonetheless, we'd wager that sharing the road with a perfectly reflective car, especially at this size, could be a serious safety hazard. Besides, the Cybertruck has already been criticized for being a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/pedestrians-already-dying-record-levels-now-face-elon-musks-cybertruck-rcna128603">pedestrian death trap on wheels</a>.
"Looks cool, but will surely annoy and blind all the other drivers on the road!" one Reddit user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/cybertruck/comments/1d3i71l/comment/l67ej5w/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">pointed out</a>.
"Is this legal?" another user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/cybertruck/comments/1d3i71l/comment/l68g1m0/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">wondered</a>. "Seems extremely unsafe, essentially driving around with mirrors on your car."
More on the Cybertruck: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/cybertruck-sliced-wrist-hospital">Driver Says He Still Loves His Cybertruck After It Sliced His Wrist Open And Sent Him to the Emergency Room</a>

Mirror Finish

"Seems extremely unsafe, essentially driving around with mirrors on your car."

This Perfectly Polished Cybertruck Looks Like a Real Hazard on the Road

<h2>Diva Down</h2>
Billionaire fashion entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa has canceled his much-buzzed-about space tourism flight, citing readiness problems with SpaceX's Starship rocket.
First <a href="https://www.space.com/41861-moon-tourist-yusaku-maezawa-space-art-instagram.html">announced in 2018</a>, the tourism voyage, dubbed "dearMoon," planned to carry Maezawa and ten other space tourists — a group that notably included <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/billionaire-paying-steve-aoki-spacex-moon">DJ Steve Aoki</a> — around the Moon and back to Earth. Should the trip have come to pass, it would have been the first private circumlunar trip in history.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_L3wLmrMuA&amp;t=2s">said</a> of the mission in a 2021 promotional clip that "we expect people will go further than any human has ever gone from planet Earth."
But pass it did not. Over the weekend, the official dearMoon account on X-formerly-Twitter released a statement announcing the "<a href="https://x.com/dearmoonproject/status/1796759847817625933">unfortunate</a>" decision to cancel the trip. Meanwhile, from his personal account on the same platform, Maezawa placed the blame squarely on SpaceX and Musk's shoulders.
"I signed the contract in 2018 based on the assumption that dearMoon would launch by the end of 2023," <a href="https://x.com/yousuckMZ/status/1796778107359359253">wrote</a> the Japanese billionaire. "It's a developmental project so it is what it is, but it is still uncertain as to when Starship can launch."
"I feel terrible making the crew members wait longer, hence the difficult decision to cancel at this point in time," he continued in the thread, and "I apologize to those who were excited for this project to happen."
<h2>Par for the Course</h2>
This wouldn't be the first time Muskian project timelines didn't pan out. For years now, SpaceX's many attempted Starship launches have ended in a series of <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-spacex-ukraine-starship">delays</a>, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/faa-pushed-back-spacex-starship-orbital-test">pushbacks</a>, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-astronaut-launch-delay-bridge">bridge crashes</a>, and <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-starship-self-destruct">explosions</a>; other SpaceX projects, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/historic-spacex-astronaut-launch-delayed-nail-polish">including its first crewed Dragon mission</a>, have been known to experience similar slowdowns.
And it isn't just a SpaceX problem. Tesla, another Musk-helmed venture, is notorious for <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-promises-tesla-full-self-driving-again">unfulfilled promises</a> and <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-cybertruck-delay-2023">extensive timeline delays</a>. A <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-robotaxi-announcement-regulator-permits">particularly salient example</a> can be seen in Musk's recently re-upped — though still very vague — promise that the long-awaited Tesla Robotaxi would finally be revealed in August of this year. Previously, in 2019, Musk <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/teslas-plans-robotaxis-network-nonsense">claimed</a> that there would be "one million" Robotaxis on the road by "2020." So!
This all in mind: as <a href="https://payloadspace.com/a-dear-john-for-dearmoon/?oly_enc_id=6244G5836912B9Z">Payload points out</a>, other ventures banking on the success of Starship might view the dearMoon cancellation as a tentative canary in the coal mine.
Perhaps most pressingly, NASA's upcoming <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-iii/">Artemis III</a> mission — humanity's return to the surface of the Moon for the first time in over 50 years — currently hinges on Starship being up and running by 2026. For a rocket that's yet to launch without <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-feds-unfair-starship">exploding</a>, that's a tall order.
Anyway. Condolences are with Maezawa and his fellow space enthusiasts, as it's unclear whether there was a refund policy.
More on billionaires and space: <a href="https://futurism.com/nasa-concerned-billionaire-space-hubble">NASA Experts Concerned Billionaire Space Tourist Will Accidentally Break Hubble Space Telescope While Trying to Fix It</a>

Womp Womp

"I apologize to those who were excited for this project to happen."

Billionaire Cancels Moon Tourism Trip After SpaceX Misses Deadline

<h2>Zero Juice</h2>
Elon Musk's Tesla is not the only electric vehicle company <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-20/tesla-tsla-supercharger-layoffs-leave-employees-confused-and-scared?sref=YfHlo0rL">laying off workers en masse</a>; one of its rivals, Lucid, announced last week that it's laying off about 400 people, <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/lucid-group-layoffs-electric-vehicle-19483316.php">SFGate reports</a>, more than a year after another round of layoffs that saw 1,300 people get the boot.
"I’m confident Lucid will deliver the world’s best SUV and dramatically expand our total addressable market, but we aren’t generating revenue from the program yet," Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson <a href="https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1811210/000110465924064914/tm2415482d1_8k.htm">wrote in a May 24 email</a> to staff, warning of "slowing sales in the broader EV segment."
According to some auto analysts, there was <a href="https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/q1-2024-ev-sales/#:~:text=In%20the%20first%20quarter%20of,growth%20rate%20has%20slowed%20notably.">a softening in the electric vehicle market</a> in the first quarter of the year, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-28/the-slowdown-in-us-electric-vehicle-sales-looks-more-like-a-blip?sref=YfHlo0rL">Bloomberg reports</a>, which had <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-21/ford-to-scale-back-planned-battery-plant-on-weaker-ev-demand?sref=YfHlo0rL">Ford retrenching its EV plans</a> after seeing weak sales, and Tesla <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-20/tesla-tsla-supercharger-layoffs-leave-employees-confused-and-scared?sref=YfHlo0rL">laying off ten percent</a> of staff. Rivian also plans to let go of <a href="https://qz.com/rivian-is-cutting-even-more-jobs-in-california-1851478558">120 workers</a> this year.
In short, things are looking grim for the EV market — and it's certainly not just Tesla feeling the squeeze.
<h2>Battery Anxiety</h2>
However, more established automakers like Toyota and Kia, still saw significant EV sales in the the first quarter, according to Bloomberg.
In other words, changing consumer preferences may be giving the false impression that the EV market is in for some dark days ahead.
That's especially true as Tesla is <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/teslas-nightmare-year-horrible-start">seriously struggling</a> under Elon Musk's chaotic leadership right now, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-recalling-cybertrucks-accelerator">making a royal mess</a> of its recent Cybertruck launch.
"We’re still seeing growth in [EV] demand, just not at the same pace for every brand," Cox Automotive director of industry insights Stephanie Valdez-Streaty told Bloomberg. "Right now Tesla doesn’t have new models, Ford doesn’t have a lot in the pipeline. But Hyundai, BMW, Kia, Cadillac — they’re really moving the needle forward."
More on electric cars: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-competitor-lucid-beats-model-s-record-racetrack">Tesla Competitor Lucid Beats Model S Prototype Record on Racetrack</a>