Electric vehicles continue to gain traction in car markets around the world. In fact, according to the International Energy Agency, EV sales topped 17 million worldwide in 2024.
But not everyone is happy with the trend, as one poster sadly demonstrated on TikTok.
@jf.okay WHY does this keep happening??? #Tesla #Cybertruck #vandalism ♬ original sound - Joe Fay
In the post shared by Joe Fay (@jf.okay), viewers see footage of a man slashing the tires of a parked Tesla Cybertruck. The man then gets back into his own vehicle, where his license plate is clearly visible, allowing authorities to track him down.
"I just really don't get the point of vandalizing other people's vehicles. You're going to go out of your way … to slash their tires because you're unhappy with the CEO that makes the car," Joe says.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident of EV vandalism. For instance, a Redditor shared disturbing pictures of a severed charging cable in Texas. A frustrated Tesla driver in Denmark shared photos of their car, which someone had keyed with a large "X."
There is no excuse for this kind of vandalism, but some people point to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's political activity with the Trump administration as the reason their cars are being targeted.
Others point to common anti-EV talking points. Some people believe the pollution created during battery manufacturing is even worse for the environment than continuing to drive gas-guzzling cars.
However, a Reuters analysis estimated that driving a Tesla Model 3 for only 13,500 miles will offset the environmental impact of the battery production. The Environmental Protection Agency pointed out that the total pollution from EVs is much lower than that from gasoline-powered cars.
A big issue with all this vandalism is that it can turn people off from making their next car an electric vehicle — and these cars come with huge benefits. First and foremost, they save consumers money because they don't require costly gas or maintenance. Since the cars don't burn oil or gas, they don't release harmful tailpipe pollution that affects the health of all living things.
Commenters on the original post were understandably disgusted by the behavior.
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"That is so sad," said one. Another added: "I'm not a fan of Teslas myself. But vandalizing people's cars is not gonna do anything but make it even worse."
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