A Tesla owner who shared photos of their freshly-polished Cybertruck has left people divided.
The polarizing vehicles, famed for their metallic, angular bodies, were first debuted by Elon Musk in 2019 – and came with a price tag of $60,000.
Car industry experts estimate at least 27,185 Cybertrucks have been sold as of October 2024, so spotting the statement Tesla vehicles out on the road is likely to become all the more common.
Cybertrucks might have been the subject of seven Tesla recalls last year, but this hasn’t stopped owners from taking great pride in their vehicles.
And one social media user shared fascinating photos of their Cybertruck after a good polish.
Taking to Reddit, user addeh1999 showed off the gleaming vehicle, which almost looked like a huge mirror, with the caption: “First time polishing a cybertruck.”
Hundreds of people commented on the post, although the move appeared to leave Tesla enthusiasts divided.
One fan wrote: “Would look amazing in a natural surrounding like a forest, the mountains, or a beach,” adding: “I do really like the look and would be super excited to see one in person driving down the road.”
A second said: “I don’t hate it but it just feels wrong.”
Not everyone was convinced.
One person commented: “This really shows off the imperfections. Interesting,” as a second pointed out: “The body panels are so wavy! I expect them to be flat considering all they’re doing is putting a crease in them.”
A third joked: “Proof you can polish a turd.”
Many were concerned about the dangers the super shiny vehicle could pose on the road.
“Is it just me, or does that seem very unsafe?” one asked, as another reckoned: “Should be illegal. Wouldn’t this blind the hell out of people when the sun reflects off it?”
Turns out, not much research has been done into how dangerous reflective car exteriors actually are on the road.
David Zuby, chief research officer for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, told Business Insider: “Reflective glare may pose the same problem for other drivers as headlight glare, but I am not aware of any research documenting whether this leads to or is associated with increased crash risk.”
Meanwhile, Johnathon Ehsani, research director at Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, told the publication there are two possible ‘mechanisms’ that could make a reflective Cybertruck a road risk.
The first is that, like those on Reddit worried, the reflected glare from the vehicle could temporarily blind other drivers, although Ehsani said he’d have to see a polished truck in-person to made a proper conclusion.
“The far more plausible case is a crash mechanism that is far more common, that people crash from every single day,” he said, “and that’s that it might attract attention because it’s such an unusual-looking vehicle.”
This issue isn’t limited to odd vehicles like Cybertrucks, though, as Ehsani explained: “It’s not that different to, for example, looking at a billboard for longer than you need to or even messing around with your entertainment console.”
