Why?

[skepticalbip]

I don't follow. My 'what if' was that they could be upset that there were people 'not paying their fair share' and yet still taking advantage of the system.

Yeah, got that. But that remains simply bullying.
Inconvenienced drivers do not spontaneously offer to pay taxes in order to stop being bullied.

And it's the politicians who are deciding what is taxed and where those taxes go.

So force a boycott of the gas, cut the funding for the roads, the politicians will need to seek ways to increase revenues. Then suggest taxing the electric cars, too.

Bully the politicians for change, rather than just bully to be assholes.

That, or dress like Indians and throw a bunch of Teslas into the bay.

Full disclosure... I don't know what the article says because my ad blocker is blocking access to the article so I am pulling guesses out of my arse.

However a reasonable (to me) idea at a solution would be a 'pay for use' of the charging stations of several dollars per KWH... or whatever would be equivalent to the tax paid for average equivalent gasoline use (to go into the gas tax fund) plus the cost of the electric power. If these truckers are pushing to have the electric auto use taxed equivalent to gas tax for highway maintenance then I think they have a reasonable cause.

 

[ronburgundy]

I don't follow. My 'what if' was that they could be upset that there were people 'not paying their fair share' and yet still taking advantage of the system.

Yeah, got that. But that remains simply bullying.
Inconvenienced drivers do not spontaneously offer to pay taxes in order to stop being bullied.

And it's the politicians who are deciding what is taxed and where those taxes go.

So force a boycott of the gas, cut the funding for the roads, the politicians will need to seek ways to increase revenues. Then suggest taxing the electric cars, too.

Bully the politicians for change, rather than just bully to be assholes.

That, or dress like Indians and throw a bunch of Teslas into the bay.

Full disclosure... I don't know what the article says because my ad blocker is blocking access to the article so I am pulling guesses out of my arse.

However a reasonable (to me) idea at a solution would be a 'pay for use' of the charging stations of several dollars per KWH... or whatever would be equivalent to the tax paid for average equivalent gasoline use (to go into the gas tax fund) plus the cost of the electric power. If these truckers are pushing to have the electric auto use taxed equivalent to gas tax for highway maintenance then I think they have a reasonable cause.

While the article baselessly uses the word "protest" in it's headline, there is nothing in the article nor in the actions of the truck drivers to suggest that the actions are any form of "protest", let alone a protest about uses of gasoline taxes. Given the nature of the acts, they appear to be nothing more than acts of aggression against other individuals simply for driving environmental friendly vehicles, which is why the same crowd engages in acts of physical assault by trying to blow poison on Prius drivers.

IF they were trying to protest something, it would more likely be a protest against all forms of environmentally responsible behavior. Believe it or not, it is quite common among conservatives to be angrily against any environmentalism in general, simply because they view it as somehow unpatriotic or oppose anything they think hinders corporate profits, or just anything that liberals might be in favor of. Since liberals want to lower fossil fuel use, many conservatives and "libertarians" want to increase it, just to be against what liberals are for. This mindset is certainly more common among conservatives than them actually being knowledgeable about how their state uses gasoline taxes and what funds pay for roads.

 

[ronburgundy]

I’ll take a shot at this. I think they are climate change deniers who drive big trucks (I’ve lived in a rural town for some time now, and learned that driving a big truck is often a personal identity thing, not out of necessity) and see the electric vehicles as an affront to their identity.

Exactly, this is part of what I am saying in my post above. In fact, their denial of climate change is itself not a cause but like their general anti-environmentalism, is just a reaction to wanting to be against anything liberals care about, or against anything that implies wealthy US corporations ever profit at the expense of others.

 

[TSwizzle]

It's a dick move for sure but it pales into insignificance when compared the rest of the crappy driving and parking bullshit that goes on.

 

[James Brown]

I don't know. This feels like the "Oh, you think you're better than me?" attitude. I see it as the same hostility that meat-eaters throw toward vegans, or heavy alcohol drinkers display toward teetotalers. A Tesla driver is assumed to be thinking, "I'm better than you are because I'm not spewing carbon monoxide into the air," and an ICE driver treats that as an affront.

 

[ronburgundy]

It's a dick move for sure but it pales into insignificance when compared the rest of the crappy driving and parking bullshit that goes on.

Random acts of crappy driving and parking just b/c they are stupid and/or unattentive doesn't make a person nearly the kind of unethical asshole required to deliberately block others from using charging terminals or committing violent assault by blowing exhaust on other drivers (which most of these guys blocking chargers likely also do or strongly approve of). In fact, it is even worse than the worst dick moves of bad driving, like using the bike or right-turn lane to pass traffic or not letting others merge, b/c at least those are done with some goal of trying to get someplace rather than solely to cause harm to others for the mere fun of it.

And as for driving and parking like an asshole with deliberate intent, while people of all political stripes do it, it is likely these guys are more guilty of it than average.
After all, the kind of person who thinks cutting 10 seconds off their commute time is worth putting the safety of many others at risk is just the kind of asshole who would deny climate change and want society to give the middle finger at any environmental efforts.
Plus, not giving a shit about anyone outside your narrow clan is a defining being a US Trump-era conservative who likely comprise 99.99% of these assholes.

 

[SimpleDon]

My sister-in-law owns a Tesla and she has seen the people blocking the charging stations but until I asked just now said that she put it down to stupidity or poor manners. I think that she is right notwithstanding the attitudes in the article.

And yes, my sister-in-law and my brother are Seattle liberal elites. I struggled to not add the adjective insufferable to the description. They are liberals who belong to the Columbia Tower Club in Seattle.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

If I caught someone doing that to me, I'd spray paint "Impeach Trump" all over their semi-trailer and truck.

It depends on the purpose of the 'protests'. In my state, all highway and bridge construction and maintenance is funded only by gasoline tax. If the 'protest' is insisting that tesla and other electric vehicle drivers be taxed for their use of the highways like those driving internal combustion vehicles then that seems a reasonable cause.

It would be an attempt to solve the 'free rider problem' (those taking advantage of a system without contributing).

I'm doubting ICE is a protest to government policies on energy taxation.

 

[TSwizzle]

It's a dick move for sure but it pales into insignificance when compared the rest of the crappy driving and parking bullshit that goes on.

Random acts of crappy driving and parking just b/c they are stupid and/or unattentive doesn't make a person nearly the kind of unethical asshole required to deliberately block others from using charging terminals {snip irrelevant}And as for driving and parking like an asshole with deliberate intent, while people of all political stripes do it, it is likely these guys are more guilty of it than average.

There are lots of assholes on the road/in the parking lot. I don't feel more outraged at these assholes. They will be dealt with eventually.

 

[ronburgundy]

My sister-in-law owns a Tesla and she has seen the people blocking the charging stations but until I asked just now said that she put it down to stupidity or poor manners. I think that she is right notwithstanding the attitudes in the article.

And yes, my sister-in-law and my brother are Seattle liberal elites. I struggled to not add the adjective insufferable to the description. They are liberals who belong to the Columbia Tower Club in Seattle.

That may apply to some instances, but when the stations are not even convenient parking spaces and there are plenty of open ones, then mere stupidity or poor manners make no sense as explanations. And if the vehicles doing it are not a random sample but disproportionately gas guzzling trucks, then some other more nefarious ideological motives are clearly behind it.

 

[southernhybrid]

My theory is that the truck drivers are simply trying to bully people that they assume are liberals. I drive a hybrid and I've had the rolling coal thing happen a time or two. Hybrids and electric cars are usually associated with liberals. Large pick up trucks, especially the enormous ones that are high off the ground with aggressive looking front ends, are usually associated with Trump supporters or alt righters. At least that's the case where I live. Some people are simply assholes who like to try and cause problems for people who have different views than they do. This isn't a protest. It's just a way of being a mean.

 

[TSwizzle]

My sister-in-law owns a Tesla and she has seen the people blocking the charging stations but until I asked just now said that she put it down to stupidity or poor manners. I think that she is right notwithstanding the attitudes in the article.

And yes, my sister-in-law and my brother are Seattle liberal elites. I struggled to not add the adjective insufferable to the description. They are liberals who belong to the Columbia Tower Club in Seattle.

I think the blocking of charging stations would very much depend on their location. i.e. if the charging stations are located conveniently close to the store entrance they will probably get blocked more frequently as opposed to them being located further away. It's the same attitude towards parking spots marked for "compact cars".

 

[ronburgundy]

It's a dick move for sure but it pales into insignificance when compared the rest of the crappy driving and parking bullshit that goes on.

Random acts of crappy driving and parking just b/c they are stupid and/or unattentive doesn't make a person nearly the kind of unethical asshole required to deliberately block others from using charging terminals {snip irrelevant}And as for driving and parking like an asshole with deliberate intent, while people of all political stripes do it, it is likely these guys are more guilty of it than average.

There are lots of assholes on the road/in the parking lot. I don't feel more outraged at these assholes. They will be dealt with eventually.

So, you don't think that it is any worse to try and negatively impact others just for the laughs, than to unintentionally negatively impact someone as a byproduct of trying to accomplish some other neutral goal (e.g., be on time).

That is an odd moral system you have that disregards motive and intent.

 

[TSwizzle]

There are lots of assholes on the road/in the parking lot. I don't feel more outraged at these assholes. They will be dealt with eventually.

So, you don't think that it is any worse to try and negatively impact others just for the laughs, than to unintentionally negatively impact someone as a byproduct of trying to accomplish some other neutral goal (e.g., be on time).

That is an odd moral system you have that disregards motive and intent.

I think they are assholes is about as much as I can muster on the topic. It's just not a huge problem in the grand scheme of things.

 

[ronburgundy]

My sister-in-law owns a Tesla and she has seen the people blocking the charging stations but until I asked just now said that she put it down to stupidity or poor manners. I think that she is right notwithstanding the attitudes in the article.

And yes, my sister-in-law and my brother are Seattle liberal elites. I struggled to not add the adjective insufferable to the description. They are liberals who belong to the Columbia Tower Club in Seattle.

I think the blocking of charging stations would very much depend on their location. i.e. if the charging stations are located conveniently close to the store entrance they will probably get blocked more frequently as opposed to them being located further away. It's the same attitude towards parking spots marked for "compact cars".

Charging spots are rarely the more convenient spots, as can be seen in most of the pics related to the story where there are empty spots as or closer to the business.

Such as these 3 pickups who "coincidentally" chose to park on the outer edge of a lot all next to each other with empty spots nearby.

 

[TSwizzle]

My sister-in-law owns a Tesla and she has seen the people blocking the charging stations but until I asked just now said that she put it down to stupidity or poor manners. I think that she is right notwithstanding the attitudes in the article.

And yes, my sister-in-law and my brother are Seattle liberal elites. I struggled to not add the adjective insufferable to the description. They are liberals who belong to the Columbia Tower Club in Seattle.

I think the blocking of charging stations would very much depend on their location. i.e. if the charging stations are located conveniently close to the store entrance they will probably get blocked more frequently as opposed to them being located further away. It's the same attitude towards parking spots marked for "compact cars".

Charging spots are rarely the more convenient spots, as can be seen in most of the pics related to the story where there are empty spots as or closer to the business.

Such as these 3 pickups who "coincidentally" chose to park on the outer edge of a lot all next to each other with empty spots nearby.

Assholes everywhere. What you gonna do ? And these sort of things have a habit of developing into a meme, they get staged and shared across social media and get the Twitterati all worked up.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

...

 

[TSwizzle]

...

 

[ronburgundy]

Charging spots are rarely the more convenient spots, as can be seen in most of the pics related to the story where there are empty spots as or closer to the business.

Such as these 3 pickups who "coincidentally" chose to park on the outer edge of a lot all next to each other with empty spots nearby.

Assholes everywhere. What you gonna do ? .

How about not spending 5 posts downplaying it, making false equivalencies to other acts, and manufacturing bullshit excuses for it (e.g., just parking in a convenient spot), and then pretending that you only put in the effort to do this because you somehow don't have the energy to put in the lesser effort it would take to just acknowledge the severe level of hateful asshole looking to harm others for fun that these acts represent.

 

[scombrid]

It depends on the purpose of the 'protests'. In my state, all highway and bridge construction and maintenance is funded only by gasoline tax. If the 'protest' is insisting that tesla and other electric vehicle drivers be taxed for their use of the highways like those driving internal combustion vehicles then that seems a reasonable cause.

It would be an attempt to solve the 'free rider problem' (those taking advantage of a system without contributing).

I'm sure the bubbas of Hickory, NC and Bristol, TN have a high minded purpose such as that when they are pestering EV owners.