9 ms·

Tesla haters are parking their pickup trucks at Tesla Supercharger stations

51 points by smaili 8y ago

BigChiefSmokem 8y ago
All I see is an escalation on both sides, the one that is really going to hurt here is Tesla since it's their infrastructure.
- anigbrowl 8y ago
  How are Tesla or its users escalating, by wanting to charge their vehicles?
  - cowmix 8y ago
    "both sides".. always.
  - dgzl 8y ago
    Seems like the scenario played out in school: Child 1 hits Child 2, both children go to detention.
- throwaway5752 8y ago
  How is this an escalation on anything but one side. Does Tesla have to compromise on existing because that bothers these troglodytes?
- skywhopper 8y ago
  Can you elaborate? What I see is some jerks lashing out at something they don't like. Yes, it's fuelled by anti-environmental resentment rhetoric on one "side" of things. But where's the escalation on the other "side"? The miniscule popularity of electric vehicles?
- Sohcahtoa82 8y ago
  I wish I had a PhD in Psychology so that maybe I could perhaps even begin to understand the mental gymnastics someone would have to do to be able to justify the claim that both sides are escalating when only a single side is showing aggression.
- rthille 8y ago
  Escalation would be Tesla owners placing caltrops under the tires of the trucks.
xiphias2 8y ago
I'm not sure about the laws in US, but the right thing to do would be to get the car towed by the police or the owner of the infrastructure. Also a warning sign about it is needed.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  I'm not sure how the agreement between Tesla and its supercharger users is written, but if it's a contract, then there may be no need to get the police involved. At one time I leased a very desirable parking space in what was a half-private, half-public lot. People would sometimes ignore the warning sign stating that the space was private parking only and violators would be towed. When I would arrive in the lot and there was someone in my space, I just called any tow company in the phone book and they'd (very rapidly) send out a truck to remove the offending vehicle. All I had to do was sign the bottom of the form attesting that I was the legal user of that space. This was Texas, so other states may vary.
  - jliptzin 8y ago
    I don't think there is anything wrong with what you were doing but out of curiosity how does the owner of the car know where his car was towed to?
    - ojosilva 8y ago
      Typically the owner would call the towing central number or the local police to inquiry if (the owner may think the car was stolen) and where the car was towed to. In Texas theres a phone number, 311, a website and the towing company should also leave a sign at the parking lot entrance/exit with instructions.
- chrisseaton 8y ago
  > get the car towed by the police Isn't it a civil matter? Does it involve the Police?
  - deleted 8y ago
sremani 8y ago
Where did the incident happen (cant click on reddit link)?
- skywhopper 8y ago
  North Carolina.
- samfriedman 8y ago
  The plates in the picture look like Massachusetts to me. Also looks like an older NY plate on the right. MA has plenty of these types in the west of the state, so that'd line up too.
colordrops 8y ago
I'm really confused as to why they are doing this.
- lscharen 8y ago
  See Rolling Coal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal) for another example of this mindset.
  - oldmanhorton 8y ago
    And in case anyone thinks that this is a niche thing, I have been "coal rolled" on the sidewalk multiple times in Indiana and South Dakota. I'm not saying it's common but it's definitely an activity that a number of people enjoy.
    - true_tuna 8y ago
      These vehicles are in violation of emissions controls and are subject to revocation of their registration. Feel free to report them to your state dmv. Photographic evidence should be sufficient. In other news the black soot of diesel exhaust is a powerful carcinogen. People who do this are willfully poisoning people so don’t worry too much about calling them out.
- et2o 8y ago
  It's just class warfare, has nothing to do with electric vehicles.
  - martythemaniak 8y ago
    Sure, but not "class" in the classical Marxist or economic sense. It is "class" in the context of the new cultural war, like how Trump is a "blue collar billionaire"
    - LyndsySimon 8y ago
pessimizer 8y ago
They're conflating people who hate Tesla as a company, and people who hate Tesla drivers. The nerds writing and sharing anti-Tesla stories are not driving huge pickups to block charging stations, and are 98% of the time supportive of electric cars. Whereas Tesla drivers are probably seen as rich people from out-of-town in a lot of places (because they are rich people from out-of-town.)
- beatpanda 8y ago
  Based on just a cursory Google search, the base price for a Chevy Silverado is $37,600. The Model 3 is $46,000 (before incentives). If you have the income to afford a new Chevy truck (especially with a lift kit), you can also afford a Tesla. Having grown up in a place where people drove pickup trucks for real (as in not purely symbolic) reasons, I can tell you from experience that the trucks in that photo are status symbols in exactly the same way a Tesla is. The idea that this is about "rich people" is pretty far off the mark. It's about totally empty cultural signifiers and nothing else.
- Latteland 8y ago
  Who are the nerds sharing anti-tesla stories? I only see this (on the web) from people shorting the stock, spouting ridiculous claims about the company and maybe people who love driving a fancy german sports car. Most nerds I know think the tesla is a fun and cool technical achievement, even if they don't want to waste their money on a hunk of metal.
- Johnny555 8y ago
  They may be rich (well, affluent, you don't need to be "rich" to own a Tesla), but they likely live in the town. I'm from a small town, and there's a small number of people in town that own expensive cars (A Lotus and Lamborghini come to mind), as well as a number of affluent residents that own Teslas. And it doesn't surprise me at all that those that love their lifted pickups don't like the Tesla owners. Even though though it seems silly to say your $30K - $50K truck with $10K+ of lift kits, tires and engine/exhaust mods is somehow morally superior to someone's $50K Tesla.
  - 8y ago
andy_ppp 8y ago
“Tesla Haters” is one way to describe these people... imagine if you did this with your electric vehicle in a gas station.
- zaroth 8y ago
  See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j52odgkRxDs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j52odgkRxDs
newnewpdro 8y ago
When I was growing up most of the dudes driving big lifted trucks were blue-collar mechanic/gearhead types. Tesla and the EV movement in general is plausibly seen as threatening to these people. Tesla is banned from even being sold in some states in part because of how they obsolete dealerships (and their associated service departments, which employ local mechanics). EVs obsolete combustion engines and all the associated service companies and their employees. From the oil/gas industry to the service and maintenance of engines, many people paying attention feel threatened. So I can at least empathize with these goons on some level, not that I agree with their actions. We're talking about a fundamental shift of a massive global industry, lots of jobs are in the midst of becoming irrelevant. It's not going to happen without any backlash. If the worse of it is shit like UTI students parking their trucks in charging spots, that'd be kind of incredible.
nemoniac 8y ago
In Amsterdam you get a ticket for parking at a charging station if you're not plugged in.
- true_tuna 8y ago
  In the US illegally parked cars on private property can simply be towed.
dzhiurgis 8y ago
This reminds me when black cab drivers of London decided to protest against Uber by suspending their service. Which gave Uber thousands of new customers.

51 points by smaili 8y ago

All I see is an escalation on both sides, the one that is really going to hurt here is Tesla since it's their infrastructure.

anigbrowl 8y ago
How are Tesla or its users escalating, by wanting to charge their vehicles?
- cowmix 8y ago
  "both sides".. always.
- dgzl 8y ago
  Seems like the scenario played out in school: Child 1 hits Child 2, both children go to detention.
throwaway5752 8y ago
How is this an escalation on anything but one side. Does Tesla have to compromise on existing because that bothers these troglodytes?
skywhopper 8y ago
Can you elaborate? What I see is some jerks lashing out at something they don't like. Yes, it's fuelled by anti-environmental resentment rhetoric on one "side" of things. But where's the escalation on the other "side"? The miniscule popularity of electric vehicles?
Sohcahtoa82 8y ago
I wish I had a PhD in Psychology so that maybe I could perhaps even begin to understand the mental gymnastics someone would have to do to be able to justify the claim that both sides are escalating when only a single side is showing aggression.
rthille 8y ago
Escalation would be Tesla owners placing caltrops under the tires of the trucks.

xiphias2 8y ago

I'm not sure about the laws in US, but the right thing to do would be to get the car towed by the police or the owner of the infrastructure. Also a warning sign about it is needed.

reaperducer 8y ago
I'm not sure how the agreement between Tesla and its supercharger users is written, but if it's a contract, then there may be no need to get the police involved. At one time I leased a very desirable parking space in what was a half-private, half-public lot. People would sometimes ignore the warning sign stating that the space was private parking only and violators would be towed. When I would arrive in the lot and there was someone in my space, I just called any tow company in the phone book and they'd (very rapidly) send out a truck to remove the offending vehicle. All I had to do was sign the bottom of the form attesting that I was the legal user of that space. This was Texas, so other states may vary.
- jliptzin 8y ago
  I don't think there is anything wrong with what you were doing but out of curiosity how does the owner of the car know where his car was towed to?
  - ojosilva 8y ago
    Typically the owner would call the towing central number or the local police to inquiry if (the owner may think the car was stolen) and where the car was towed to. In Texas theres a phone number, 311, a website and the towing company should also leave a sign at the parking lot entrance/exit with instructions.
chrisseaton 8y ago
> get the car towed by the police Isn't it a civil matter? Does it involve the Police?
- deleted 8y ago

sremani 8y ago

Where did the incident happen (cant click on reddit link)?

skywhopper 8y ago
North Carolina.
samfriedman 8y ago
The plates in the picture look like Massachusetts to me. Also looks like an older NY plate on the right. MA has plenty of these types in the west of the state, so that'd line up too.

colordrops 8y ago

I'm really confused as to why they are doing this.

lscharen 8y ago
See Rolling Coal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal) for another example of this mindset.
- oldmanhorton 8y ago
  And in case anyone thinks that this is a niche thing, I have been "coal rolled" on the sidewalk multiple times in Indiana and South Dakota. I'm not saying it's common but it's definitely an activity that a number of people enjoy.
  - true_tuna 8y ago
    These vehicles are in violation of emissions controls and are subject to revocation of their registration. Feel free to report them to your state dmv. Photographic evidence should be sufficient. In other news the black soot of diesel exhaust is a powerful carcinogen. People who do this are willfully poisoning people so don’t worry too much about calling them out.
et2o 8y ago
It's just class warfare, has nothing to do with electric vehicles.
- martythemaniak 8y ago
  Sure, but not "class" in the classical Marxist or economic sense. It is "class" in the context of the new cultural war, like how Trump is a "blue collar billionaire"
  - LyndsySimon 8y ago

pessimizer 8y ago

They're conflating people who hate Tesla as a company, and people who hate Tesla drivers. The nerds writing and sharing anti-Tesla stories are not driving huge pickups to block charging stations, and are 98% of the time supportive of electric cars. Whereas Tesla drivers are probably seen as rich people from out-of-town in a lot of places (because they are rich people from out-of-town.)

beatpanda 8y ago
Based on just a cursory Google search, the base price for a Chevy Silverado is $37,600. The Model 3 is $46,000 (before incentives). If you have the income to afford a new Chevy truck (especially with a lift kit), you can also afford a Tesla. Having grown up in a place where people drove pickup trucks for real (as in not purely symbolic) reasons, I can tell you from experience that the trucks in that photo are status symbols in exactly the same way a Tesla is. The idea that this is about "rich people" is pretty far off the mark. It's about totally empty cultural signifiers and nothing else.
Latteland 8y ago
Who are the nerds sharing anti-tesla stories? I only see this (on the web) from people shorting the stock, spouting ridiculous claims about the company and maybe people who love driving a fancy german sports car. Most nerds I know think the tesla is a fun and cool technical achievement, even if they don't want to waste their money on a hunk of metal.
Johnny555 8y ago
They may be rich (well, affluent, you don't need to be "rich" to own a Tesla), but they likely live in the town. I'm from a small town, and there's a small number of people in town that own expensive cars (A Lotus and Lamborghini come to mind), as well as a number of affluent residents that own Teslas. And it doesn't surprise me at all that those that love their lifted pickups don't like the Tesla owners. Even though though it seems silly to say your $30K - $50K truck with $10K+ of lift kits, tires and engine/exhaust mods is somehow morally superior to someone's $50K Tesla.
- 8y ago

andy_ppp 8y ago

“Tesla Haters” is one way to describe these people... imagine if you did this with your electric vehicle in a gas station.

zaroth 8y ago
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j52odgkRxDs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j52odgkRxDs

newnewpdro 8y ago

When I was growing up most of the dudes driving big lifted trucks were blue-collar mechanic/gearhead types. Tesla and the EV movement in general is plausibly seen as threatening to these people. Tesla is banned from even being sold in some states in part because of how they obsolete dealerships (and their associated service departments, which employ local mechanics). EVs obsolete combustion engines and all the associated service companies and their employees. From the oil/gas industry to the service and maintenance of engines, many people paying attention feel threatened. So I can at least empathize with these goons on some level, not that I agree with their actions. We're talking about a fundamental shift of a massive global industry, lots of jobs are in the midst of becoming irrelevant. It's not going to happen without any backlash. If the worse of it is shit like UTI students parking their trucks in charging spots, that'd be kind of incredible.

nemoniac 8y ago

In Amsterdam you get a ticket for parking at a charging station if you're not plugged in.

true_tuna 8y ago
In the US illegally parked cars on private property can simply be towed.

dzhiurgis 8y ago

This reminds me when black cab drivers of London decided to protest against Uber by suspending their service. Which gave Uber thousands of new customers.