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An individual was allegedly caught by the vehicle’s onboard cameras dragging keys along the car's side panels, with the Tesla owner posting the footage to social media.
Electric Cars
An individual has allegedly been caught on video vandalising a Tesla, with the car owner sharing the footage to social media.
The owner – who posted the video to the Tesla Owners Australia Facebook group – said they noticed “a deep scratch from the rear passenger door all the way through to the left guard”.
According to the original Facebook post, the incident occurred in Epping – a suburb approximately 18km north of Melbourne – on 31 October 2024, with the video uploaded online on 6 November 2024.
In the video, the individual can be seen approaching the vehicle, where they then drag a key alongside the Tesla's side panels until the alleged offender disappears.
Victoria Police is yet to make a statement regarding the incident, with various commenters urging the owner to report the matter to authorities.
Some Facebook users expressed their frustrations regarding Tesla’s being vandalised in the country, with one person stating, “What’s with all the hate for Teslas in Australia? These videos get posted weekly. What a shame.”
While another remarked: “Wtf is wrong with all these old people keying cars for no reason? I feel like every car needs to have cameras built-in now.”
This news comes amid an apparent spate of senior citizens across the country being caught on video keying Teslas, with a 77-year-old in New South Wales charged with a similar offence in September 2024, according to 9 News.
In a separate incident, another individual was seen damaging a Tesla in the Victorian suburb of Bundoora – approximately 10km southeast of Epping – in March 2024.
Electric Cars Guide
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
