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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsSaahil Desai rented a Tesla Cybertruck and drove it around Washington, D.C. for a day. His tally: he was flipped off at least 17 times. That number comes from Desai’s personal account in The Atlantic, not from a survey of Cybertruck drivers.
What happened during Desai’s Cybertruck drive?
In his March 29, 2025, first-person essay, The Atlantic senior editor Saahil Desai describes renting the truck to find out what it was like to drive it around Washington, D.C. His account records a range of reactions from people he encountered: some jeered or showed hostility, while others gave thumbs-ups or appeared curious about the vehicle.
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Desai summarized the hostile encounters this way: “I had been flipped off at least 17 times, called a ‘motherfucker’ (in both English and Spanish), and a ‘fucking dork.’” The tally and insults describe his experience during that one day.
Why did people react to the truck?
Desai considered the Cybertruck’s political associations part of the context for the reactions he saw in Washington. That is his interpretation of the setting, not proof of why any particular person gestured or spoke to him. His account also includes approving and curious responses, rather than suggesting that everyone he passed was hostile.
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Does the 17-time count represent Cybertruck drivers generally?
No. It is Desai’s count from a single day and route, not a measured rate or representative study of public reactions. Futurism’s April 6, 2025, summary recounts Desai’s experience; it does not report a separate drive or tally. The account is best understood as a first-person cultural essay, not a population survey, ownership review, or recommendation to rent or buy the truck.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did Desai sum up the experience?
Desai’s conclusion focused less on the truck’s unusual appearance than on whether people found it worth driving. He wrote: “The disaster of the Cybertruck is not that it’s ugly, or unconventional, or absurdly pointy. It’s that, for most people, the car just isn’t worth driving.” That is his judgment in the essay, rather than a conclusion established by the one-day drive as a broader measure of public opinion.
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