Any innovative technology, even electric vehicles, can draw in some naysayers. This EV owner reached out to the Reddit community for advice on an annoying instance of vandalism on their Tesla Model X.

"Thank you to the person who added a reminder that I drive a Model X," the Tesla driver wrote sarcastically, adding a photo that showed an "X" keyed into their car door.

The owner didn't include additional info on where they were located, or if they caught the perpetrator on Tesla's Sentry Mode, but they did ask for advice: "any tips on how to get rid of it without taking it to a shop?"

The top commenter explained thoroughly how to determine whether or not the damage would require buffing or a new paint job, "run your finger nail over the scratches, does your nail catch? If so, you can't buff it out." They followed up by describing how to use an at-home paint repair kit: "you are far better off fixing this at home than taking it to a shop."

"Try the Tesla touch up paint kit first," another Tesla owner said. "It did a great job on the liftgate of our red Y."

While there's no way of knowing whether this was a random act of vandalism or some kind of statement, the result is a headache for vehicle owners. Even worse, vandalism can scare off potential EV buyers, which slows the widespread adoption of EVs that is necessary to slow dangerous levels of global warming.

Our current reliance on dirty energy is unsustainable. Gas-powered cars produce an outstanding amount of greenhouse gases that contribute significantly to the planet's warming; a typical passenger vehicle releases about 4.6 metric tons (over 5 tons) of carbon pollution per year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Carbon dioxide is a major contributor to the planet's increasing temperature, and transportation accounts for nearly a third of all air pollution. However, running electric vehicles creates no greenhouse gas emissions at all.

EVs are powered by electricity from many different sources, including solar and wind, which is currently the fastest-growing energy industry. Even though EV batteries use minerals that are found deep in the earth, the millions of tons of minerals that are mined are only replacing millions of tons of fossil fuels mined. And compared to fossil fuels, these minerals are not burned and thus do not create the same amount of pollution as gas and oil.

The EPA points out that even though 1 gallon of gasoline weighs only 6 pounds, "burning 1 gallon of gasoline produce[s] approximately 20 pounds of tailpipe carbon" because of the chemical reactions that take place in engines. Whereas valuable minerals from batteries can be recycled and reused, preventing them from ending up in landfills.

"People can be incredibly malicious and vindictive. It's perplexing how someone's life can reach a point where they derive satisfaction from acting savagely, defacing, or vandalizing another person's car," one comment summarized.

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