An electric vehicle owner encountered an unexpected situation when they arrived at a local charging station in Oklahoma, only to discover that the charging cables had been removed.

Posting about the experience on the subreddit r/tulsa, the EV owner shared a video of the cordless charging stations at their local Aldi on South Harvard Ave in Tulsa.

(Click here to watch the video if the embed does not appear.)

This situation is not unique, as there has been a rise in vandalism directed toward EVs and EV charging infrastructure. Some of this is due to opposition to EVs and their overall growth, while some EV vandalism is politically motivated. While anti-EV sentiment has been around for a while, the political activities of Tesla CEO Elon Musk drew the ire of some. Charging stations have also been increasingly targeted for copper theft from their charging cords. Copper is a valuable metal that can be sold for scrap. 

Unfortunately, incidents like this could hinder the broader adoption of electric vehicles, which is desperately needed to curb our emissions of harmful pollution, including planet-warming gases. Although mining the metals required for the clean energy transition, including those used in EVs, does have environmental consequences, its impact is far smaller than the damage caused by extracting billions of tons of fossil fuels each year.

EVs can also significantly cut household costs because they are cheaper to run and maintain than gas-powered cars, thanks to lower energy costs and a simpler design with fewer moving parts. If running an EV is paired with home solar, then this cost can be reduced even further. EnergySage is a TCD-vetted source for home solar quotes that can help you save thousands of dollars. 

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Commenters on the post were less than impressed by the EV owner's discovery. "This was likely some malicious nonsense," wrote one commenter. 

While another added, "This unfortunately is becoming a very common thing."

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