A Tesla Model 3 driver got coal rolled by a pickup truck driver who admitted to targeting the vehicle because it was a Tesla — showing the hate for the electric automaker is real.
Coal rolling is when a modified diesel pickup truck spews black sooty exhaust fumes while accelerating, and targeting people, bikes, or cars with the fumes.
Tesla owners have previously reported pickup truck owners trying to coal roll their cars, seemingly because they were Tesla vehicles or electric cars.
One incident was caught on camera earlier this year.
When reporting on several of these instances filmed by Tesla drivers over the last few years, I got a lot of pushback from people saying that it wasn’t intentional.
However, in this new instance, the pickup truck driver was undeniably targeting the Tesla Model 3 since he filmed the video himself and posted it on YouTube with the description: “Good ole Cummins rolling coal on a Tesla.”
An Electrek reader tipped us to the video on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/AWNFq-L6tgs
In the video, you can hear the driver, who is going by Matthew Brown on YouTube, saying, “F*ck your Tesla — he just flipped me off.”
He posted in the comments:
I love how I get more hate rolling coal on a Tesla than I did with rolling coal on black lives matter protesters.
Sure enough, he has another video on his channel where he rolls coal on protesters.
Update: I ended up finding Brown and talking to him about the incident. He admitted that he indeed did it because he hates Tesla – though his reason for hating the company was quite vague. He mentioned the company getting government subsidies, but he was surprised when I told him that the fossil fuel industry gets way more industry than Tesla or any electric vehicle marker.
At the end of our conversation, he was actually apologetic about the incident and showed a willingness to educate himself about electric vehicles.
Electrek’s Take
I can’t believe this is real.
I’ve seen it happen a few times, and Tesla drivers were always pretty sure that it was intentionally targeting them because they are driving a Tesla, but they got pushback from people who believed it wasn’t intentional and the trucks were only accelerating.
In this case, it’s pretty clear, and this guy is not a genius for bragging about it on the internet.
Not only does he brag about it, but he’s like, “If you didn’t like that, I hope you also check out the other illegal thing I didn’t to Black Lives Matter protesters.” Next-level stupidity right there.
In several jurisdictions, it’s illegal to operate a vehicle like that. However, it’s not clear where this guy is driving.
In California, the Air Resources Board has a system to report people with coal rolling vehicles. If you spot something like that, I highly suggest you report it. The fines can be significant.
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