Electric vehicle drivers are no doubt exhausted by vandalism, which is making their journey from A to B much more difficult.
In the r/MachE Reddit community, one user posted a picture of an all-too-common occurrence at refueling stations across the United States.
"First charger we attempted to charge at today found this," they captioned the post, above an image of two Flo charging points that had all of the cables cut.
In addition to encountering unusable charging stations, EV drivers also have to contend with dirty-fuel-powered cars taking up parking bays that should be reserved for motorists looking to boost their vehicle's battery. This practice, known as ICEing, is done by drivers of gas-guzzling cars who are protesting the rising presence of EVs on the nation's roads.
On the surface, though, there isn't really that much to protest about. Increasing numbers of EVs shouldn't make a lot of difference to drivers of conventional gas-powered vehicles — in fact, gas station pumps should be less busy, which must be helpful.
Furthermore, EVs don't produce any tailpipe pollution, meaning they don't release any toxic, planet-warming gases. This is a win for the environment and reduces the risk of people developing respiratory or cardiovascular illnesses from breathing in dirty air.
Commenters on Reddit pointed out that the vandalism might have been motivated by selling the scrap metal found in the wiring, but not everyone was convinced by this theory.
"It's probably EV haters doing it," said one Redditor. "They did cut the full cable but that doesn't necessarily mean they will try to sell for scrap."
"This angers me so much — regardless of what political ideology someone may have nothing gives you the right to destroy property," added another.
Thanks to U.S. government initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act, it's now a lot cheaper to buy an electric car because of generous tax breaks and incentives. Meanwhile, according to an analysis from the Pew Research Center, 64% of Americans now live within two miles of a public charging location, and the number of EV chargers in the U.S. has doubled since 2020.
But even though more chargers are available, it's still frustrating to encounter a vandalized one.
However, if wireless EV charging eventually becomes the norm, drivers would no longer have to worry about severed cables.
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