Onlooker shares photo as concerning criminal trend increases across US: 'They make it too easy'

Electric vehicles and their charging stations have been subject to vandalism, but it's not just cars; electric scooters are also being targeted, rendering them unusable.

"Saw this very depressing and looted scooter next to the Oculus (WTC) the other day," one person wrote on Reddit.

It is more common than you might think. — Photo Credit: Reddit

The depressing image showed an UberScoot complete with a seat locked up on a street in New York City. It was missing its battery.

Without a battery, electric scooters cannot operate. Not only does the battery operate the electric motor that drives the scooter, but it also provides energy for lights, controls, and other electrical components.

"They make it too easy," one person replied in the comments.

The theft of scooters or their batteries is unfortunately more common than you might think. For example, the University of Southern California reported that in 2022 there was a 481% increase in the theft of scooters in the state. Ensuring that the scooters are secured properly with a lock before leaving them and removing the battery can help prevent this from happening.

Watch now: Does clean energy really cause blackouts?

Repeated reports of such incidents may prevent people from adopting more eco-friendly modes of travel, as electric scooters and their batteries can be expensive to replace. This goes for larger electric vehicles, too, as there has been an increase in vandalism of cars and charging infrastructure.

However, the adoption of electric vehicles is necessary if we are to transition to a cleaner, fossil-fuel-free future that will prevent the further warming of the planet and provide healthier environments.

Electric vehicles are much better for the environment than traditional gas-powered ones. While we do need to harvest millions of tons of minerals for the clean energy transition, this is much less than the billions of tons of fossil fuels being dug up every year.

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