Fifteen Tesla vehicles were lit on fire at a car dealership in Frankfurt, Germany, this week, and a radical group of environmentalists has claimed to be behind the act of arson.
With the incident alone, this gang of morons is probably responsible for more pollutant emissions than they can ever counter with their so-called activism.
IAA moved its car trade show from Frankfurt to Munich a few years ago, mainly due to environmentalist protests affecting the event.
I have been attending the show for the last two editions as it has transitioned into a “mobility show” with a lot of electric vehicles being featured.
There are still some protests in Munich, but nothing compared to Frankfurt.
I was there last week and only saw some cohorts on bikes with signs going around the city and giving speeches at some hot spots.
Greenpeace did this protest at the conference center, but I missed it. Although, I’m pretty sure that they heavily photoshopped this image because the artificial pond in front of the center is no more than one or two feet deep.
While the protests over IAA in Munich were mild, it looks like the group in Frankfurt hit again in a much more criminal way.
Fifteen Tesla vehicles were set afire at a dealership in Frankfurt last night. Forty firefighters were involved in the attempt to extinguish the fire, and more than €500,000 of damage has been done.
Now a radical group has taken credit for the criminal attack.
They released a letter on the Germany version of the Indymedia website, which is often used by radical left-wing groups for communications.
In the letter, the anonymous writers reference the IAA protest and then claimed the arson in Frankfurt (translated from German):
That’s why we flambéed some new Teslas in Frankfurt tonight. As a greeting to the protests in Munich. As one attack among many on the destructive auto industry.
Their main problem with Tesla appears to be the mining of lithium and cobalt and the impact on indigenous communities (translated from German):
Tesla is one of our most prominent enemies. The company represents like no other the ideology of green capitalism and the ongoing global and colonial destruction. Electric motors are constantly presented as the clean alternative. That’s a cynical lie. Like other companies, Tesla exploits resources worldwide. The necessary raw materials for electric car batteries, such as lithium and cobalt, are mined under terrible conditions in Latin America and Africa. Despite the great green paint, fossil fuels are needed for transport and production. All of this always happens in connection with the oppression of indigenous communities, whose resistance must be a signal to us to act.
Furthermore, they take issue with Elon Musk and his “patriarchal fantasies.” They think that his efforts to colonize Mars is about creating a “vacation destination for the richest” and not making life multiplanetery.
Electrek’s Take
I think there’s value in bringing attention to ethical mining of resources, but that’s just not the way to do it.
First off, you are not a real environmentalist if you think it’s smart to light afire EVs that would have displaced literal tons of CO2 over their lifetime and could have been recycled at their end of life.
Instead, Tesla will get insurance money and build those cars again. It’s dumb.
As for ethical mining, the truth is that most mining companies have deals with local indigenous communities. In the US and Canada, it is a must for any new project. Now if it’s not the case for any specific project, then it needs to be addressed, and it’s important to bring attention to it, but big actions like that need to come with big proof.
Do they have clear examples of mining projects that Tesla benefits from that are being contested by indigenous communities? Because if they don’t, these idiots are just burning cars for the sake of burning cars. They are petty criminals and not unsung heroes.