
Help your Cybertruck, erm, 'stand out' with Unplugged's new 24in wheels
Tesla Truck a little too plain for you? How about sticking some massive gold forged wheels on it?
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Gold wheels on a Subaru Impreza? Yep. Massive, 24in forged gold wheels on the Tesla Cybertruck? Erm, we'll let you make your own minds up on that one.
These are the new $7,145 CYBRSPOKE wheels from California-based Tesla tuner Unplugged Performance, and they're designed for those who think the standard Cybertruck is a little shy and retiring.
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'We engineered CYBRSPOKE to carry a sporting presence while maximising strength and staying loyal to the Cybertruck's brutalist form,' said Ben Schaffer, boss of Unplugged.
Despite being a monster 24in wheel, we're told they weigh around the same as the standard Tesla 20in wheel when that design is fitted with aero covers. They're also available in a satin black or titanium finish if you'd like to be a little more… discreet.
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The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘We got a lot of honks in solidarity': anti-Musk protests ripple at LA's Tesla Diner
Elon Musk's 'retro-futuristic' Tesla Diner in Hollywood has become a new flashpoint for the 'Tesla Takedown' movement, with dozens of protesters picketing the diner last weekend alongside inflatable tube figures of Musk performing a Nazi salute. The viral popularity of the new diner, which is surrounded by 80 Tesla charging stations and two giant movie screens, has sparked out-the-door lines, massive traffic jams, and two angry protests, all within its first week of operation. Organizers say they are protesting against what they see as the Tesla CEO's corrosive effect on US democracy, as well as the human cost of the sweeping government cuts he spearheaded while working within the Trump administration earlier this year. For months, protesters who oppose the billionaire's political power have demonstrated outside of Tesla showrooms across the US and the world, hoping that by applying pressure to Tesla, a publicly-traded company, the Tesla Takedown movement can have an impact on Musk's behavior. 'Musk thought [the diner] would be good for him, but it's actually great for anti-Tesla protesters as well, to give us increased visibility,' said Joel Lava, who has been organizing weekly Tesla Takedown protests outside a Tesla service station in Burbank, California. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Though Musk has officially left his role within the Trump administration, and has since publicly feuded with the president, the devastating effects of his so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) live on, Lava said. Lava cited recent reports that the US had thrown away nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food aid this spring, in the wake of Doge's dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Global health officials have also said Musk's budget-cutting efforts have thrown global HIV prevention efforts, including the rollout of a new 'miracle' drug, into chaos. There are hometown considerations, as well, Lava added: Musk has a history of anti-trans comments, and the diner is right on the border of West Hollywood, one of LA's historic LGBTQ+ neighborhoods. Protesters outside the Hollywood diner last weekend carried signs reading 'Fuck Nazi Billionaires' and 'Boycott Tesla'. 'We WILL NOT REST until the world has internalized the truth that TESLA FUNDS FASCISM,' organizers wrote in a post advertising the demonstrations, which one Los Angeles organizer estimated attracted about 100 people on Saturday, and about 85 on Sunday. A Los Angeles police spokesperson described the two demonstrations in Hollywood as 'peaceful protests'. Social media video of the diner demonstrations showed a few apparent Musk supporters yelling at protesters, including one young man caught on video describing himself as 'a proud fascist'. Dave, a Los Angeles-based Tesla Takedown organizer, said a few drivers of newer Teslas and Cybertrucks around the diner had screamed at the protesters, and 'there were some people who were doing the Sieg Heil [salute]'. At least one Cybertruck driver had gotten out of his vehicle to confront protesters, Dave said. The organizer asked not to be identified by his full name because he feared that protesting against Musk might affect his employment opportunities. Other Tesla fans waiting in line outside the diner simply seemed confused by the political rhetoric, Dave said, and other people driving by the diner were audibly supportive. 'We got a lot of honks and fist-pumps in solidarity, and many of those were even from Tesla drivers themselves – especially the people driving the older models of Teslas,' he said. Since it opened at 4.20pm last Monday, the diner has attracted Musk fans from across southern California, as well as curious tourists. At about midday on Wednesday last week, many fans in line had brought children with them, and some said that their kids were especially excited to see Musk's diner, which they had heard about on TikTok or YouTube. One Tesla Diner customer told the LA Public Press on Saturday that the protesters' comparisons of Musk to a Nazi did not make sense to him. 'If he's a fascist, who has he killed?' the man asked. 'Nazis kill people, from what I understand.' 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The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
Elon Musk is turning US liberals off not just Tesla but electric vehicles in general
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'The suspicion is that Elon Musk became so synonymous with EVs in the US that perceptions of him affected the entire class of vehicles,' said Alexandra Flores, a psychologist at Williams College and lead author of the study, published in Nature. 'This made them way less appealing to liberals – he really dragged down perceptions of EVs in general. It's definitely unusual to have a chief executive have an impact on a whole class of products like this.' Opposition to Musk over his alliance with Trump, which has since ruptured in acrimony, caused many liberal Tesla owners in the US and Europe to express embarrassment with their vehicles. Some have even adorned their cars with anti-Musk stickers that feature slogans such as 'Anti Elon Tesla Club' or 'I Bought This Before Elon Went Crazy.' However, the new study found that Musk's rightwing shift has not made conservative Americans more likely to buy a Tesla or any electric car, despite separate polling showing that Republican voters now have a more favorable view of the car company than they once did. Views on Musk are also sharply divided between conservatives and liberals. Even as liberals dramatically changed their views of Tesla, and to a lesser extent EVs, most conservatives remain skeptical of both and have been consistently unwilling to consider buying an electric car in the past two years of polling. While buying an electric vehicle was the most politically polarized environmental action when the researchers' polling began, more so than installing solar panels or even eating less red meat, Democrats and Republicans are now more in line than they were following Musk's political foray. 'We thought that liberals would be pretty stable because EVs are so historically associated with the green movement and that Musk's rightward turn would bring conservatives on board,' said Flores. 'But the opposite happened – over time conservatives remained relatively steady in their lack of interest in EVs and Tesla, while liberals' attitudes really dropped. They are now equally unlikely to buy an EV as they are a Tesla.' Flores said that EVs' association with climate-friendly politics may be more influential for conservatives than liberals when it comes to purchasing decisions. 'The attitude among conservatives to Tesla may be slightly less negative than before but that didn't translate into the part of psychology of how they intended to behave,' she said. 'That strong link to liberalism is too much for them to be budged on. It's more foundational to them than if they like or don't like Elon Musk.' Musk has recently admitted that Tesla faces a 'rough few quarters' ahead amid stuttering sales figures for the company in the US. Last week, Tesla announced sales for the second quarter of 2025 were 12% down on the same period last year, amid consumer concerns over tariffs, Tesla's lineup and the imminent removal of tax credits, as well as Musk's own image. In California, Tesla's heartland, the situation is particularly stark, with the company posting a seventh consecutive quarter of declines in new vehicle registrations. Overall EV sales in the US dipped in the three months to July, year-on-year, and the shift to electric models is likely to be slowed further by a Republican spending bill, signed by Trump, that axes a key incentive for buyers to opt for an EV. From September, a tax credit of up to $7,500 for an electric car purchase will be deleted, with dealers expecting a rush of people to take advantage of the subsidy before it expires. 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Reuters
6 hours ago
- Reuters
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