Imagine turning up to your local electric vehicle charging station only to find the facilities have been vandalized and you can't charge your car. That surely won't help anyone with range anxiety.
Unfortunately, that's what some drivers in Seattle would have experienced when making it to one of the city's EVgo fast-charging facilities.
Someone took to the r/leaf subreddit — a community for drivers of Nissan's electric hatchback the Leaf — to warn drivers about the situation and to use the platform as a cathartic outlet.
They uploaded a picture of the damage, with the image showing that two charging cables had been severed, meaning EV drivers would be unable to use them.
While speculating that they could have been stolen for valuable copper wiring, another user suggested that if that was the case, the cut would have been made closer to the cable's exit point. "This must be vandalism," they added.
Other Redditors have seen similar cases, with one user saying: "I saw the same thing at the Issaquah Highlands P&R a couple weeks ago. A bunch of charge point stations all with cut cords."
"I think it's vandalism because I've seen other chargers damaged so they can't be used," said another.
Indeed, cases of vandalism at EV charging stations are sadly nothing new. In Germany, for example, vandals decided to force raw minced meat into chargers in a grim protest — perhaps believing that EV drivers would be vegans or vegetarians because of their demonstrated consideration for the planet with their choice of car.
In Texas, two new EV charging points in a Rudy's parking lot were also damaged by vandals, with the establishment's owner devastated they would need costly repairs so soon after installation.
Dirty-fuel-powered trucks have also been found in spaces reserved for EV charging, stopping drivers from boosting their battery power.
Coal-rolling is also a way drivers of gas-guzzling cars have shown their distaste, intentionally emitting clouds of exhaust fumes in the direction of electric car drivers — some have even done so to cyclists and pedestrians.
A handful of motorists have found it difficult to let go of dirty fuel to power their cars, which is unfortunate because of the benefits EVs bring. They are far cheaper to refuel than internal combustion engine machines, and they also don't require as much maintenance.
EVs are much kinder to the planet, too, emitting no particle pollution on the road — which avoids negatively impacting air quality — and preventing the release of gases linked to global heating.
They're also becoming increasingly affordable, with nationwide incentives like the Inflation Reduction Act making it easier for United States residents to pick up an electric car — and some states offer their own discounts and tax breaks, too.
Hopefully, these cases of vandalism decrease as EVs become more of a fixture of daily life, and perhaps some of the people causing damage to charging stations will be enticed by the many benefits an EV brings.
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