Tesla has been the target of protests around the world amid owner Elon Musk’s affiliation with the Trump administration and his backing of European far-right parties.
Authorities in Italy and France are investigating possible arson that targeted Tesla electric vehicles and superchargers over the past few days.
Italian police said more than a dozen Tesla electric vehicles were destroyed by a fire at a dealership on the outskirts of Rome early Monday, the Associated Press reported. A reporter counted 16 burned cars.
Tesla Italy told the AP it was cooperating with police and that it had turned over surveillance video from the vehicles themselves. The cars’ internal video operates even when they are not running.
Meanwhile, a police source in the town of St-Chamond in the Loire department of central France told AFP that 12 Tesla electric superchargers were targeted in an arson attack in the parking lot of a supermarket last week.
Two of the superchargers, which are worth tens of thousands of dollars, were completely destroyed, AFP reported.
The words « Anti-Tesla campaign born to burn » were painted in white on the ground.
