An ICE Driver's Disappointing Reaction

[boelkers]

We got our MX a week ago and have not yet gotten our new license plates, so we still have the Tesla "Zero Emissions" stock plates. Over the weekend my wife and I were headed home from a concert driving through Minneapolis. We were on the interstate and I came up on a slow car in the right lane. I passed the car and was about to move back over to the right lane when a Mustang suddenly came speeding out of no where, got right up on our MX rear end and then pulled into the right lane to now pass me. As the Mustang was passing us the driver flipped us the bird, then he proceeded to roll down his window and held his hand out continuing to show us said bird. Then he took the exit lane and slowed down, as we now passed him again the little birdie was still there.

Now my wife and I were quite confused what all this birding was for. Did he not like my driving? Was he upset that he needed to pass me in the right lane, the very same lane that he needed to be in to take his exit? Or was he just angered by our car pointing out that we are producing Zero Emissions while he is driving a car that spilling them out the back-end?

We decided it was the the latter as just last week we had a discussion in the airport with a gentleman who didn't like seeing electric cars. He feels electric car owners are "showing off" that they are environmentally conscious while he still drives an ICE vehicle so he must not care about the environment.

Has anyone else experienced poor feedback, direct or indirect, from others on their Tesla and/or the electric movement?

 

[Terthen]

Only positive things here in San Diego, but there are tons of Tesla's out here. Just yesterday we had a really nice couple ask us to open the FWD, they had never seen it in person and were very interested. Probably 25-50% of the time I hear someone say, for example telling their parents or if someone in their group is like "what kind of car is that??", "it's aTesla, and it's all electric"

Sounds like that dude just had a bad day or just wasn't in a good mood.

 

[Tam]

...Has anyone else experienced poor feedback, direct or indirect, from others on their Tesla and/or the electric movement?

I got more positive feedbacks than negative ones.

One co-worker (who has higher degrees than I do and makes much higher salary than I do) came up to me angrily said that my EV is destroying the environment citing a number of pro-fossil fuel studies.

I said I've never heard of any deaths from leaving an EV "running" in a home garage.

The discussion went no where and I knew that there was no point for further discussion.

 

[boelkers]

I got more positive feedbacks than negative ones.

Yeah, so far we've gotten very positive reviews from friends. Family has been a mixed bag. But this guy's reaction got me curious if others had gotten similar negative reactions.

 

[DrivingRockies]

Sounds to me like he was probably speeding heavily, you moved to pass a car, and he had to slow down. Road rage tends to be about people's driving, not the car they're in.

 

[BluestarE3]

We decided it was the the latter as just last week we had a discussion in the airport with a gentleman who didn't like seeing electric cars. He feels electric car owners are "showing off" that they are environmentally conscious while he still drives an ICE vehicle so he must not care about the environment.

That's the same type of sentiment that was expressed when the Prius first came out. Even though the Prius wasn't deemed a "luxury" car like the Tesla (i.e., showing off an expensive car), the fact that it was driven by "tree huggers" and Hollywood celebrities was enough for it and its drivers to earn the disdain of some.

 

[eye.surgeon]

Sounds like he's annoyed he had to pass you on the right. The left lane is for passing.

 

[boelkers]

Sounds like he's annoyed he had to pass you on the right. The left lane is for passing.

Normally I would agree, but since he exited not 10 seconds after passing me it seemed more like it was to make a statement. Whatever the case, I wont lose sleep over it.

 

[jelloslug]

Some people are just a-holes; it's best to not stoop to their level as they will beat you with experience.

 

[hmmm]

We got our MX a week ago and have not yet gotten our new license plates, so we still have the Tesla "Zero Emissions" stock plates. Over the weekend my wife and I were headed home from a concert driving through Minneapolis. We were on the interstate and I came up on a slow car in the right lane. I passed the car and was about to move back over to the right lane when a Mustang suddenly came speeding out of no where, got right up on our MX rear end and then pulled into the right lane to now pass me. As the Mustang was passing us the driver flipped us the bird, then he proceeded to roll down his window and held his hand out continuing to show us said bird. Then he took the exit lane and slowed down, as we now passed him again the little birdie was still there.

Now my wife and I were quite confused what all this birding was for. Did he not like my driving? Was he upset that he needed to pass me in the right lane, the very same lane that he needed to be in to take his exit? Or was he just angered by our car pointing out that we are producing Zero Emissions while he is driving a car that spilling them out the back-end?

We decided it was the the latter as just last week we had a discussion in the airport with a gentleman who didn't like seeing electric cars. He feels electric car owners are "showing off" that they are environmentally conscious while he still drives an ICE vehicle so he must not care about the environment.

Has anyone else experienced poor feedback, direct or indirect, from others on their Tesla and/or the electric movement?

Is it possible that you triggered your brake lights at any point during your passing maneuver? It happened to me a couple of times (ie step on hit hard to pass then get off the juice "mid maneuver") and that tends to irritate other drivers at times. Ditto when AP is on at highway speed as the car continuously adjusts to changing conditions.

But then again maybe I am too optimistic and the guy was really a complete jerk.

 

[outie]

This has nothing to do with ICE drivers. Anyone could have done the same thing even in an EV.

Speaking if brake light that's one thing I don't like about regen. The brake light comes up too easily.

 

[boelkers]

Is it possible that you triggered your brake lights at any point during your passing maneuver? It happened to me a couple of times (ie step on hit hard to pass then get off the juice "mid maneuver") and that tends to irritate other drivers at times. Ditto when AP is on at highway speed as the car continuously adjusts to changing conditions.

This is an interesting thought. I'm quite positive I did have AP on at that time as I was checking the lane clearance to make sure I could move lanes. And then have AP auto lane change whiplash you into the lane.
The brake lights is a good thought though.

 

[KidDoc]

Especially in Houston people like to shadow you on the highway in their souped up cars and try to get you to race. Mostly in good spirits in my experience they just want to see if their rod can beat the mighty Tesla.

Now the gigantic diesel trucks who smoke you when they drive by, those guys are just a-holes.

 

[jimmyz80]

Same thing happened to me when I was driving my Roadster. Was head to head with an ICE as we were both waiting to make our respective left turns, and the dude just flips me off for no reason.

 

[BLKMDL3]

People are a$&-holes and don't let that bother you. Our world is full of them. Its better to ignore them and keep driving the way you were before. Road rage has become a huge problem in this world and people have guns so be careful. Just don't give them the little birdie back and you will be fine.
Drive safe!
Zack

 

[PeterHG]

just last week we had a discussion in the airport with a gentleman who didn't like seeing electric cars. He feels electric car owners are "showing off" that they are environmentally conscious while he still drives an ICE vehicle so he must not care about the environment.

So he cares about the environment but he'd prefer that no one drive an EV? Puhlease.

Don't let the bastards get you down! Enjoy your car

 

[dhrivnak]

99% of the time I get a thumbs up or even pictures taken. But there is still the 1% that I do my best to ignore. And really 99 out of 100 is not too bad

 

[larmor]

We got our MX a week ago and have not yet gotten our new license plates, so we still have the Tesla "Zero Emissions" stock plates. Over the weekend my wife and I were headed home from a concert driving through Minneapolis. We were on the interstate and I came up on a slow car in the right lane. I passed the car and was about to move back over to the right lane when a Mustang suddenly came speeding out of no where, got right up on our MX rear end and then pulled into the right lane to now pass me. As the Mustang was passing us the driver flipped us the bird, then he proceeded to roll down his window and held his hand out continuing to show us said bird. Then he took the exit lane and slowed down, as we now passed him again the little birdie was still there.

Now my wife and I were quite confused what all this birding was for. Did he not like my driving? Was he upset that he needed to pass me in the right lane, the very same lane that he needed to be in to take his exit? Or was he just angered by our car pointing out that we are producing Zero Emissions while he is driving a car that spilling them out the back-end?

We decided it was the the latter as just last week we had a discussion in the airport with a gentleman who didn't like seeing electric cars. He feels electric car owners are "showing off" that they are environmentally conscious while he still drives an ICE vehicle so he must not care about the environment.

Has anyone else experienced poor feedback, direct or indirect, from others on their Tesla and/or the electric movement?

This type of behavior, perhaps without the finger warning, happens to me often. If i want to pass someone in the left lane, most of the time in SoCal, as soon as you give the indicator to pass, another car in the left lane far back, accelerates just enough to prevent you from passing. With an MX, this is not difficult to deal with, however a few are not pleased at all with the aplomb and ease that i can merge in and out, ie speed up to pass, and slow down to return to the right lane. Then said offended car and driver, make it a point to speed up and pass again, only to take the next exit. This happens often, and i think people are not keen on seeing an SUV just pull away. Of course, if i were in a ferrari, lambo, etc, no one would care...

 

[FarmerDave]

We got our MX a week ago and have not yet gotten our new license plates, so we still have the Tesla "Zero Emissions" stock plates. Over the weekend my wife and I were headed home from a concert driving through Minneapolis. We were on the interstate and I came up on a slow car in the right lane. I passed the car and was about to move back over to the right lane when a Mustang suddenly came speeding out of no where, got right up on our MX rear end and then pulled into the right lane to now pass me. As the Mustang was passing us the driver flipped us the bird, then he proceeded to roll down his window and held his hand out continuing to show us said bird. Then he took the exit lane and slowed down, as we now passed him again the little birdie was still there.

Now my wife and I were quite confused what all this birding was for. Did he not like my driving? Was he upset that he needed to pass me in the right lane, the very same lane that he needed to be in to take his exit? Or was he just angered by our car pointing out that we are producing Zero Emissions while he is driving a car that spilling them out the back-end?

We decided it was the the latter as just last week we had a discussion in the airport with a gentleman who didn't like seeing electric cars. He feels electric car owners are "showing off" that they are environmentally conscious while he still drives an ICE vehicle so he must not care about the environment.

Has anyone else experienced poor feedback, direct or indirect, from others on their Tesla and/or the electric movement?

For an eye opener, read the comments (called backfires) on caranddriver.com when they post an article about Tesla. The degree of vituperation, lies and naysaying by ICE drivers is both surprising and instructive.

 

[BLKMDL3]

People are a$&-holes and don't let that bother you. Our world is full of them. Its better to ignore them and keep driving the way you were before. Road rage has become a huge problem in this world and people have guns so be careful. Just don't give them the little birdie back and you will be fine.
Drive safe!
Zack

They are also jealous you can kick their little mustang A$&.