‘It really scared my daughter’

Tesla owner Meri Beth Barrett Johnson took to Facebook to express her concerns about harassment of EV owners, describing a frightening event she experienced on the road.

“It really scared my daughter who was in the car,” she elaborated in response to a comment she received.

Johnson explained the ordeal, sharing that a big black Chevy truck repeatedly honked at her, even though she did nothing wrong. She interpreted it as Tesla hate, a trend that has been growing not only for Teslas but for other EVs, as well. She felt that the behavior was harassment.

Instances of EV-driver harassment are alarming to potential EV owners who may hesitate to make the switch from a gas-powered vehicle. As these incidents increase, the prospect of owning an EV becomes less appealing, which can slow the widespread adoption of EVs. The more traditional vehicles we can replace on the road with EVs, the better it is for the environment, since EVs do not produce the tailpipe pollution that comes from dirty energy sources like gas and oil.

Some people opposed to EVs claim that the battery manufacturing process creates pollution and argue that they do just as much harm to the environment as a gas-powered vehicle. While there are environmental concerns around mining for millions of tons of minerals needed for battery production, that pales in comparison to the billions of tons of dirty fuels we dig out of the earth each year to power gas vehicles.

So while EV battery manufacturing is not a perfect solution, it is a vast improvement, and the process is becoming more environmentally friendly.

Whether people harassing EV owners and vandalizing EVs are doing so out of concern for the mining process or due to a fear of new technology they don’t understand is not clear, but it is clear that these incidents are not helping the widespread adoption of EVs that the planet needs to reduce air pollution.

Most commenters on Johnson’s Facebook post were appalled and expressed their concern and anger.

“I’d like to say that I can’t believe people would hate someone just for driving an electric car … I now know that people will hate anyone for any reason,” said one commenter.  “How dare you do something good for the environment?”

Another said, “People are idiots.”

One sympathetic commenter said, “Sorry this happened to you.”

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