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Tesla Supercharger attacked as vandals drill into charging plugs, partially sever cable

(Photo: Mark Larsen/Twitter)

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7 years ago

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Led by disruptive vehicles like the Tesla Model 3, the electric car revolution is steadily gaining ground. Across the auto industry, new startups are focusing on electric cars, and veterans such as Porsche are committing to a future powered by sustainable energy. Unfortunately, as could be seen in recent incidents surrounding the Tesla community, it appears that there are still some groups who are showing resistance to electric vehicles as a whole.

Last December, a number of Tesla community members shared their experiences involving Superchargers being blocked by gas-powered vehicles. While some of these “ICE-ing” incidents appear to be the result of an honest mistake, some were undoubtedly intentional. Tesla owners u/Leicina and u/BarcodeOfficial from the r/TeslaMotors subreddit, for one, noted from their experience that some pickup truck drivers who were intentionally blocking Superchargers were verbally harassing EV owners.

While such ICE-ing episodes continue to be reported across the Tesla community, an incident recently shared by Model 3 owner-enthusiast Mark Larsen showed what could very well be one of the most direct acts against Teslas to date. As noted by Larsen, a Supercharger station at St. George, Utah — one of the company’s older charging locations — became the victim of an aggressive act of vandalism. During the incident, the vandals attempted to sever a Supercharger cable. The perpetrators drilled into the plugs of the charging stalls as well.

Tesla’s St. George, Utah Supercharger recently became the victim of vandalism. (Photo: Mark Larsen/Twitter)

As a result of the attack, the Model 3 owner noted that three of the Supercharger’s stalls became inoperable. Fortunately, there were some security cameras in the area. Thus, there is some hope that the culprits behind the Supercharger attack might eventually be apprehended. As noted by Larsen in his Twitter post, the incident has already been reported to Tesla. 

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While Tesla’s electric cars are beloved by many, the vehicles themselves remain polarizing to some members of the auto community. Apart from ICE-ing incidents and acts of vandalism against Superchargers, there has also been a rise in reports of break-ins involving the company’s vehicles. In the Bay Area and neighboring cities alone, some Tesla owners practically felt as if they were being targeted due to the frequency of attacks against electric cars.

A Tesla Supercharger occupied by non-electric vehicles. (Photo: Tehshayne/Reddit)

While responding to a Model 3 owner whose vehicle was damaged while it was unattended, Elon Musk noted that Tesla would be rolling out a ‘Sentry Mode’ as an added security feature. Musk did not elaborate on the capabilities of Sentry Mode, though it is speculated that the feature would extend upon Tesla’s built-in dashcam solution and leverage the vehicles’ eight surrounding cameras for video recording versus one. In true Elon Musk fashion, the name Sentry Mode appears to be rooted in pop culture, being a feature of Iron Man’s redundant defense mechanism for JARVIS.

In a recent comment on Twitter, Elon Musk noted that Sentry Mode should roll out to owners who are part of the company’s beta testing program in two to three weeks. Considering the pervading negative sentiments from the anti-EV community today, Tesla’s Sentry Mode would definitely be a timely feature.

There is no doubt that the electric car revolution is starting. Inasmuch as resistance against EVs is likely to remain, there is very little that can be done to stop the auto industry’s transition to electric power, particularly as key markets such as Europe and China have both committed to a future powered by sustainable energy. Among automakers, Tesla’s disruption with the Model S, X, and 3 has all but encouraged veteran carmakers to push the development of electric vehicles, as evidenced by cars such as the Porsche Taycan and the Jaguar I-PACE. As electric vehicles become more prevalent, and as more automakers embrace sustainable transportation, one can only hope that resistance against EVs would eventually fade and die out.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk reveals when SpaceX will perform first-ever Starship catch

“Starship catch is probably flight 13 to 15, depending on how well V3 flights go,” Musk said.

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4 hours ago

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August 28, 2025

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Credit: SpaceX

Elon Musk revealed when SpaceX would perform the first-ever catch attempt of Starship, its massive rocket that will one day take life to other planets.

On Tuesday, Starship aced its tenth test flight as SpaceX was able to complete each of its mission objectives, including a splashdown of the Super Heavy Booster in the Gulf, the deployment of eight Starlink simulators, and another splashdown of the ship in the Indian Ocean.

It was the first launch that featured a payload deployment:

SpaceX Starship Flight 10 was so successful, it’s breaking the anti-Musk narrative

SpaceX was transparent that it would not attempt to catch the Super Heavy Booster, something it has done on three previous occasions: Flight 5 on October 13, 2024, Flight 7 on January 16, and Flight 8 on March 6.

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This time, it was not attempting to do so. However, there are bigger plans for the future, and Musk detailed them in a recent post on X, where he discussed SpaceX’s plans to catch Starship, which would be a monumental accomplishment.

Musk said the most likely opportunities for SpaceX to catch Starship itself would be Flight 13, Flight 14, and Flight 15, but it depends on “how well the V3 flights go.”

The Starship launched with Flight 10 was a V2, which is the same size as the subsequent V3 rocket but has a smaller payload-to-orbit rating and is less powerful in terms of initial thrust and booster thrust. Musk said there is only one more V2 rocket left to launch.

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V3 will be the version flown through 2026, as V4, which will be the most capable Starship build SpaceX manufactures, is likely to be the first company ship to carry humans to space.

Musk said that SpaceX planned to “hopefully” attempt a catch of Starship in 2025. However, it appears that this will likely be pushed back to 2026 due to timing.

SpaceX will take Starship catch one step further very soon, Elon Musk confirms

SpaceX would need to launch the 11th and 12th test flights by the end of the year in order to get to Musk’s expected first catch attempt of Flight 13. It’s not unheard of, but the company will need to accelerate its launch rate as it has only had three test flights this year.

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Tesla Robotaxi rival Waymo confirms massive fleet expansion in Bay Area

New data from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said Waymo had 1,429 vehicles operating in California, and 875 of them were “associated with a terminal in San Francisco,” according to The SF Examiner.

Published

6 hours ago

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August 28, 2025

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Credit: Uber

Tesla Robotaxi rival Waymo has confirmed that it has expanded its fleet of driverless ride-sharing vehicles in the Bay Area of California massively since its last public disclosure.

It is perhaps one of the most important metrics in the race for autonomous supremacy, along with overall service area. Tesla has seemed to focus on the latter, while expanding its fleet slowly to maintain safety.

Waymo, on the other hand, is bringing its fleet size across the country to significant levels. In March, it told The SF Examiner that there were over 300 Waymos in service in the San Francisco area, which was not a significant increase from the 250 vehicles on the road it reported in August 2023.

In May, the company said in a press release that it had more than 1,500 self-driving Waymos operating nationwide. More than 600 were in the San Francisco area.

Tesla analyst compares Robotaxi to Waymo: ‘The contrast was clear’

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However, new data from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said Waymo had 1,429 vehicles operating in California, and 875 of them were “associated with a terminal in San Francisco,” according to The SF Examiner.

CPUC data from March 2025 indicated that there were a total of 1,087 Waymo vehicles in California, with 762 located in San Francisco. Some were test vehicles, others were deployed to operate as ride-sharing vehicles.

The company’s August update also said that it deploys more than 2,000 commercial vehicles in the United States. That number was 1,500 in May. There are also roughly 400 in Phoenix and 500 in Los Angeles.

While Waymo has done a good job of expanding its fleet, it has also been able to expand its footprint in the various cities it is operating in.

Most recently, it grew its geofence in Austin, Texas, to 90 square miles. This outpaced Tesla for a short period before the company expanded its Robotaxi service area earlier this week to roughly 170 square miles.

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Tesla one-ups Waymo once again with latest Robotaxi expansion in Austin

The two companies have drastically different approaches to self-driving, as Waymo utilizes LiDAR, while Tesla relies solely on cameras for its suite. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made no mistake about which he believes to be the superior solution to autonomy.

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Tesla launches Full Self-Driving in a new region

Today, Tesla launched Full Self-Driving in Australia for purchase by car buyers for $10,100, according to Aussie automotive blog Man of Many, which tried out the suite earlier this week.

Published

7 hours ago

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August 28, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has launched its Full Self-Driving suite in a new region, marking a significant step in the company’s progress to expand its driver assistance suite on a global scale.

It is also the first time Tesla has launched FSD in a right-hand-drive market.

Today, Tesla launched Full Self-Driving in Australia for purchase by car buyers for $10,100, according to Aussie automotive blog Man of Many, which tried out the suite earlier this week.

Previously, Basic and Enhanced Autopilot suites were available, but the FSD capability now adds Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control, along with all the features of the previous two Autopilot suites.

It is the first time Tesla has launched the suite by name in a region outside of North America. In China, Tesla has “City Autopilot,” as it was not permitted to use the Full Self-Driving label for regulatory reasons.

However, Tesla still lists Full Self-Driving (Supervised) as available in the U.S., Canada, China, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

The company teased the launch of the suite in Australia earlier this week, and it appeared to have been released to select media members in the region earlier this week:

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Tesla FSD upcoming Australia release seemingly teased bv media

The rollout of Full Self-Driving in the Australian market will occur in stages, as Model 3 and Model Y vehicles with Hardware 4 will receive the first batch of FSD rollouts in the region.

TechAU also reported that “the initial deployment of FSDs in Australia will roll out to a select number of people outside the company, these people are being invited into Tesla’s Early Access Program.”

Additionally, the company reportedly said it is “very close” to unlocking FSD in customer cars:

Each new Tesla sold will also come with a 30-day free trial of the suite.

Australia is the sixth country to officially have Full Self-Driving available to them, following the United States, Canada, China, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

Here’s the first look at the suite operating in Australia:

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