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.
Alessandra Tarantino/AP
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.
ALEX MARTIN/AFP via Getty Images
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.
ALEX MARTIN/AFP via Getty Images
The police source told AFP that it was “the first act targeting the business of billionaire American Elon Musk” in the Loire. No arrests have been made.
Tesla has been the target of protests around the world amid owner Musk’s affiliation with the Trump administration and his backing of European far-right parties. Earlier this month, dozens of Tesla vehicles were torched in the southern French city of Toulouse.
In the U.S., there has been a spate of violent attacks on Tesla properties that Attorney General Pam Bondi described as being “nothing short of domestic terrorism.” She vowed to “impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes.”
Since January, incidents targeting Tesla EVs have occurred in at least nine states, according to a joint intelligence bulletin issued by the Department of Homeland Security and FBI and obtained by CBS News earlier this month.
“These incidents have involved arson, gunfire, and vandalism, including graffiti expressing grievances against those the perpetrators perceive to be racists, fascists, or political opponents,” the bulletin reads.
On Saturday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Tesla dealerships across the U.S. and in some European cities. It was the first attempt to surround all of Tesla’s 277 showrooms and service centers in the U.S., in an effort to further a recent decline in sales at the company.
European sales of Tesla vehicles tumbled 49% in the first two months of the year even as overall sales of EVs grew, the AP reported.
Musk on Sunday acknowledged that his work at the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is hurting Tesla’s stock price, calling it “a very expensive job.” Musk’s role at DOGE has sparked protests from people who are opposed to DOGE’s activities, including gaining access to sensitive data for millions of Americans and shuttering entire agencies as the billionaire seeks to slash government spending.
About one-third of Musk’s estimated $330 billion fortune consists of the stock he holds in the electric vehicle company that he continues to run while also working alongside President Trump. After Mr. Trump was elected in November, Tesla rose to a record high on Dec. 17 of $479 per share, but the stock has has since tumbled 48%.
Aimee Picchi
contributed to this report.
