A Los Angeles-area Redditor posted a video of a vandalized Waymo vehicle being loaded onto a tow truck. Since the electric vehicle seemed to be fully operational, the person taking the video inquired about what was happening and was told that a vandal had broken both of the side mirrors on the Waymo.
"1. This is why we can't have nice things," said one commenter. "2. Waymos don't need side mirrors to see … why would the vandals break those (?)"
(Click here to watch the video if the embed does not appear.)
While any vandalism is typically senseless — like this example of someone keying a Tesla — the commenter raises a good point, and it's one that the original poster raised to the tow truck operator in the video. They learned that a Waymo will not operate if damaged, even if the damage does not impede the actual operation of the vehicle.
Incidents of EV and charging station vandalism have been on the rise, as Motoring Chronicle explains, and this can deter potential EV purchasers from making the switch to the more eco-friendly mode of transportation, compared to gas-powered vehicles. This can slow the widespread adoption of EVs, which is slowing the reduction in our use of dirty energy sources like gas and oil.
Though there are concerns about the pollution created during the EV battery manufacturing/charging process and the environmental impact of mining for elements needed in battery production, the impact is far less than that inflicted by the tons of dirty energy sources that are dug out of the Earth every year in order to support gas-powered vehicles. While we are, indeed, digging up millions of tons of minerals for the clean energy transition, it is important to note that we are doing so in order to replace the billions of tons of dirty energy sources that we are currently digging up. Though it is not a perfect solution, it is a vast improvement. And the process is constantly improving.
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When vandals damage EVs and charging infrastructures, it can often disrupt a broader transition. Redditors who viewed the video of the vandalized Waymo shared their frustrations.
"Unfortunate that people suck so much," expressed one commenter. "Hopefully they can catch whoever did it."
A sarcastic Redditor said it was "smart for the vandal to pick the one car with a million cameras on it."
One viewer simply said, "sad."
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