When choosing your next car, it's unfortunate to have to think about how people might perceive your choice. As electric vehicles have become more available, it has become easier to make this eco-friendly purchase. However, some members of the public have objections.
One student shared a clip with a Tesla community on Reddit. In the slightly blurry video, viewers can see a van pull up and someone hop out to seemingly unplug the charging car. The plug can be seen just off the side of the bottom of the frame, sitting on the ground. The OP expressed their concern, saying, "Some people are just sick … outrageous behavior."
There are many stories of people vandalizing EVs or participating in the disgusting trend of coal rolling.
In the past, it seemed to be motivated by a disagreement with the scientific fact that human-created pollution is causing the planet to heat up. Now, with the additional issue of Tesla CEO Elon Musk becoming more involved with politics, Tesla EV owners are increasingly facing criticism — and vandalism.
Simply unplugging the charger cable is the least of what some owners have recently faced.
"I would be so happy he didn't key my car," one commenter wrote. "I prob[ably] wouldn't make a big deal over unplugging the charger. Sucks and is annoying, but no real damage done."
Since Teslas have several cameras for security, plenty of videos show true vandals keying and damaging these cars.
While frustration is understandable and EVs aren't perfect — still causing some pollution when being charged with dirty energy and when being manufactured — they are overall still much better for the environment than other cars, and they are leading us toward a brighter and cleaner future. According to one study from MIT, gas-powered cars create an average of 350 grams of carbon air pollution per mile, while EVs charged on the average U.S. power grid create only 200.
Redditors were angry over the OP's situation and discussed options on how to prevent this from happening.
"I got one of those cheap charger locks that prevents such a situation," one person suggested. "Peace of mind when I leave my car charging during work hours and works well enough."
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Someone else was upset about how this purchase has been skewed.
"... It just doesn't feel safe anymore," they wrote. "I wanted the car because it had the best tech of all the electrics out there and it has nothing political to do with it."
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