In a disturbing escalation of recent vandalism trends, one set of vandals targeted EV owners by filling a charging port with superglue.
According to Transport and Energy, vandalism against electric vehicle charging points doubled from 2023 to 2024. A post on the r/ChargerDrama subreddit documented an instance of vandals getting crafty with their destruction, depicted by a picture of a Tesla charging point jammed with superglue.
The increase in vandalism takes many forms, from the outright theft of charging cables and severing cables while the car is charging to scratching or egging vehicles.
Sometimes, this damage can be done by people looking to resell the copper found in charging cables. Other times, it is a protest against electric vehicles in general or specifically against Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk.
This example of stuffing the charging port with superglue is particularly harmful, as it renders both the public charging point and someone's personal cable useless.
Actions like this can understandably steer potential car buyers away from purchasing an electric vehicle. For most people, purchasing a new vehicle is a pretty major, expensive decision, and no one wants to choose something that has a higher risk of being damaged.
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Sadly, this makes the widespread adoption of EVs much slower, hindering the transition to a cleaner, safer future.
EVs aren't the perfect answer to every environmental issue, but switching away from an internal combustion engine is an accessible, practical way that a consumer can cut dirty sources of energy like gas and oil from their daily use.
While the manufacturing and charging process of EVs does create some air pollution, the Department of Energy found that gas-powered vehicles produce six times more carbon air pollution than EVs.
In addition, there are valid environmental concerns about the lithium-ion batteries used in EVs. However, every year, only 7.7 million tons of lithium are mined for clean energy, compared to the staggering 16.5 billion tons of coal, oil, and natural gas extracted, according to Sustainability by Numbers.
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5 minutes or less ⏲️ Reddit users expressed their frustration at the vandalism found by the original poster.
"People are so hateful to do stuff like this," one commenter remarked.
"I've had the same issue," another user empathized. "Tesla replaced my first unit two years ago and then this year it happened again."
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