YouTuber Mark Rober tests Tesla on autopilot, car hits wall painted as road. But, people cry 'It's a hoax'
ByTrisha Sengupta
Mar 19, 2025 08:27 AM IST
YouTuber Mark Rober tested Tesla Model Y in various situations, including one in which he created a fake wall and painted it to look just like the road.
Former NASA engineer and YouTuber Mark Rober published a video of an experiment using a Tesla car that has prompted him to face severe backlash. In the video, he tested Tesla's Autopilot against a LiDAR-equipped car to assess the vehicle's obstacle-detection capabilities. Though the Tesla Model Y passed some of the parameters with flying colours, as per the video, it failed to recognise a wall painted as the road. Initially, the video went viral, with people expressing their shock and surprise; however, soon after, Tesla fans claimed it was a hoax orchestrated to hurt Elon Musk's automaker.
Mark Rober's Tesla Autopilot ‘crash test’ has created a controversy on social media. (YouTube/@MarkRober)
Mark Rober's Tesla Autopilot ‘crash test’ has created a controversy on social media. (YouTube/@MarkRober)
About the viral video:
In a video dubbed in Hindi, Rober says he will test whether the car hits the wall painted in Wile E. Coyote style. For the uninitiated, he referred to the determined yet hapless antagonist of the Looney Tunes series, who is famous for his elaborate but doomed schemes designed to catch the Road Runner. His plans involved many tricks, including painting realistic tunnels on walls.
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Rober then explains how Tesla relies on optical cameras instead of LiDAR. The clip shows him driving towards the fake wall and eventually crashing into it.
Take a look at the video here:
Many accused Rober of faking the video to defame Tesla and Elon Musk. An individual posted, "Mark Rober has made falsified claims to defame Tesla." Another added, "Mark Rober is a robber. His plan to fund buying a Tesla is to short Tesla, float lies to bring down the stock prices and use those short positions to fund a Tesla six months later (as he would have made money shorting Tesla). Don't ever support this snake."
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A third commented, "Mark Rober built a reputation as one of YouTube's most trusted creators. But one video may have destroyed his credibility forever. A misleading Tesla test and hidden ties to a LiDAR company—was this science or a hit job?" A fourth wrote, "Mark Rober's Tesla Scam EXPOSED – The Experiment Was FAKE!"
Grok joins in:
An X user roped in Grok and asked what the YouTuber did wrong. The chatbot by Elon Musk's AI company replied, "Mark Rober faces backlash for a March 15, 2025, video testing Tesla's self-driving tech vs. Luminar's LIDAR. Critics say he used an older Tesla system, not Full Self-Driving, misleading viewers to favor Luminar, possibly for financial gain. Social media calls it deceptive, damaging his rep."
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