It's amazing what some people will do if they don't realize they're being filmed — and one Tesla owner learned that the hard way.
They posted a video of an incident captured by their car's camera in the subreddit r/evcharging. In the footage, a man approaches their car — which is plugged in, charging — and shamelessly unplugs the charging cable to use on his own vehicle.
"The charging spots are full, so I'll just unplug this car and use the cable," the original poster said sarcastically in the caption.
However, the cable doesn't quite reach far enough, and after trying to stretch it to his own car, the man simply dropped it and left.
"I returned to an empty battery and a $20 charging bill," OP wrote, frustrated. "It charged me 'idle fees.'"
Commenters were outraged at the blatant bad behavior. Even if — as some suggested — he mistakenly believed that the OP's car was finished charging, it was outright lazy to leave the cable simply dangling on the ground, particularly given idle fees.
"If you paid, and he took, is that not theft?" one incredulous person said.
Cases of non-EV owners with a personal vendetta against EVs are well-documented, but this kind of behavior from a fellow EV owner is much more rare. Sometimes, owners of dirty-fuel-powered cars and trucks deliberately hog charging spots. Meanwhile, a number of incidents of cables being cut, cars being unplugged, and vandalism of charging stations and vehicles for unknown reasons have also been reported.
Most electric vehicles and charging cables are able to lock in place, though some combinations need an adapter to do so. Unfortunately for the OP, they were unable to do so.
🗣️ When you think about owning an EV, what concerns you most about public charging stations?
🔘 Chargers not working 🚫
🔘 Chargers not being available 😥
🔘 Charging being too expensive 💰
🔘 Charging taking too long ⌚
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
"Sucks man!" one person sympathized. "I bought the j1772 adapter lock for just this reason. Worthy $12 investment in my opinion."
Another added, "I can't wait until all spots are charging spots some day!"
Indeed, although there will likely always be some anti-EV sentiment present among certain groups, the overall market demand for them is continuing to grow.
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