At least 17 Tesla cars were destroyed after a fire broke out at a dealership on the outskirts of Rome on Monday morning, according to Italian fire officials. No one was at the dealership when the fire broke out and no injuries have been reported.

The fire comes after a string of reports across Italy in recent weeks of Tesla vehicles being vandalized and defaced, with anti-Elon Musk and anti-Donald Trump sentiments written with spray paint.

Another car dealership burned down in northern Rome a week ago, destroying 30 cars, including used Teslas.

Also in Rome, several Teslas in the Garbatella neighborhood were defaced, according to police and social media posts.

Tesla dealerships in Milan have also been targeted by environmental groups in recent weeks.

Reports of Tesla vandalism have also surfaced in France and various parts of the United States, including the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast.

  • @[email protected]
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    101 month ago

    Pretty sure I saw a news report lately about Teslas getting burned in a wildfire, and IIRC, the batteries were exploding violently and scattering hazardous waste.

  • @[email protected]
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    1 month ago

    My guess is that Tesla managers decided it’s better to cash out the insurance money instead of storing the (swasti)cars that almost nobody will buy. And you can always blame the anti Musk “terrorists”.

  • Riskable
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    101 month ago

    I’m surprised Trump and Musk aren’t up in arms about the “car body count”. “Won’t somebody think of the children… We want to put to work–on overnight shifts, on school nights–making cars like this!”

    • Drusas
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      131 month ago

      They are. Trump’s DOJ is trying to charge people with terrorism and hate crimes for defacing a Tesla.

    • Nougat
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      141 month ago

      If we’re lucky, he’ll go visit Matthew Perry.

      • @[email protected]
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        91 month ago

        Kinda disrespectful to Matthew Perry to say they’ll meet in the same place, which I assume for Musk is Satan’s unwashed taint.

  • sp3ctr4l
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    91 month ago

    Tch tch tch, those damn self combusting, self immolating Teslas.

    Someone should probably just ban them all, astoundingly unsafe, especially the cybertrucks.

    • @[email protected]
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      91 month ago

      If these batteries weren’t glued in the dumbest way possible, they would put them without batteries on the lot. That would be a win win. You could burn a tesla with less pollution and it’s easier to extinguish