Electric vehicle owners are no strangers to hostility, but one Tesla driver's experience getting keyed at a public charging station sparked outrage. The owner shared their story on Reddit's r/ModelY forum to vent about the annoying incident involving their two-week-old car.
"I am so upset and confused," the Redditor wrote. "Captured it all on camera, and can you believe it was another Tesla owner?"
The Redditor further explained that their Tesla was newly wrapped in paint protection film, and they're hoping this saved it from deep scratches. They also noted that the incident was reported to the police.
"Why are people like this?? I hope karma comes for you," the Redditor said.
Vandalism against EVs is an unsettling trend for many reasons. Most importantly, this sort of behavior deters EV adoption. Charging station conflicts — as may have been the case here — and general hostility contribute to consumers being hesitant about making a switch from gas-powered vehicles.
Given that transportation is still a leading contributor to the overheating of our planet, EV owners should be banding together instead of creating more resistance.
One common anti-EV argument is the pollution that comes alongside lithium mining and battery production. While this is a fair concern, studies show that EVs still produce far less pollution over their lifespan than their gas-powered counterparts.
Many commenters were baffled by this individual's actions. One Redditor responded, "This guy probably loves his family, pays his bills, and generally follows the law. Yet in this instance he felt entitled to vandalize someone else's property because he didn't get to pull up and plug in?"
Another commenter attempted to find an explanation behind the behavior, asking, "Did you park the car in the space? Leave it plugged long in after you finished charging? Some people experience excessive overreactions to not following 'charging etiquette' unfortunately."
Perhaps with better legislation, stricter vandalism penalties, and a bit more kindness, situations like this one can be minimized in the future.
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This commenter put it plainly: "It's sad that we can't be at least civil with each other. I try to be nice to all EVs TBH."
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