A Tesla driver arriving at a charging station in Covington, Georgia, was frustrated to see that every spot was already taken — but not by electric vehicles.
They posted a photo of the lot on Reddit, writing: "Never seen so much icing at one charging station. It was pretty frigid."
"ICEing" is a common term for when an internal combustion engine (ICE) car takes up a charging spot meant for an EV. While this may occasionally be a mistake on the part of the ICE driver, it is generally seen as a protest against electric vehicles as a whole.
"I imagine they'd be pretty p***** off if a whole gas station within 70 miles had [every] pump spot occupied with an EV," the original poster wrote in frustration.
Commenters were rolling their eyes as well — both at the spot-hogging and the lack of any action from the lot owner or the state.
"They just need to start towing," one person said. "Tesla should start adding clauses with the property owners that they will charge fees based on reports of ICE'ing incidents. The owner just needs to talk to a towing company who would love such a large payday as this."
"[The owner is] literally just throwing money away allowing this to happen," another agreed.
This isn't the only way that drivers of gas-guzzling vehicles make their sentiments known on EVs. Drivers have also been caught coal-rolling, sending noxious clouds of black smoke out of their exhaust pipes toward EV drivers and even cyclists. Others have even resorted to throwing rocks at EVs.
When it comes to charging stations, people don't stop at hogging spaces; they regularly vandalize and destroy the chargers. Despite this, few places have official laws about the legality of taking EV spots.
"I wish states took more of an interest in making it some sort of an offense or fine for icing," one person wrote.
The bizarrely strong anti-EV sentiments are even more puzzling when you consider the savings and the environmental benefits of switching away from gas-powered vehicles.
While some drivers have historically been concerned about a lack of reliable charging networks, the number of publicly available chargers has more than doubled in the past year, according to a statement from the White House.
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