Another day, another case of an electric vehicle charging station being vandalized.
Unfortunately, this is a trend sweeping the United States, and EV drivers are becoming increasingly frustrated with how difficult it is to find a spot to boost their battery life.
On Reddit, someone posted a picture to the r/Tucson community of such destruction at a local public library.
"I just got a plug in hybrid and tried to go charge it at Wilmot library, but the cords were slashed!" the Redditor captioned the image. "Librarians said it happened to several branches a few weeks ago."
The original poster went on to speculate the reason for the cable being cut. They thought that maybe a local corporation was mad that the library was offering free access to chargers or that perhaps someone wanted to sell the copper wiring inside the cord.
Another potential reason is that it was done in protest of the growing presence of electric cars on the nation's roads.
According to the International Energy Agency, there were 1.4 million registrations of electric vehicles in the United States during 2023, with increasing sales attributed to the Inflation Reduction Act making it cheaper to invest in the technology.
Unfortunately, some drivers aren't so keen to see the decline of dirty fuel-powered cars and have been demonstrating their irritation accordingly — some are even parking in EV charging spots to prevent access.
But electric vehicles shouldn't be something to be upset about, as they produce zero tailpipe pollution when out on the road, which reduces the rate of planet-warming gases being released into the atmosphere — helping to decrease the risk of extreme weather conditions.
They are also much better for local air quality, compared to internal combustion engine machines, since they release no toxins or particulate matter that increase the risks of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. In fact, a study from the Keck School of Medicine of USC found that areas with more zero-pollution vehicle registrations had lower air pollution rates and saw drops in emergency room visits.
Other locals had seen similar vandalism throughout the city, with one person observing, "The chargers at the loft cinema were also slashed," and another pointing out that perpetrators "Hit all 4 at Kohl's on Cortaro."
"This is so sad," another lamented.
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