Tesla driver stunned after spotting massive police presence at Supercharger station: 'No less than 7 cops'
In the post, the Redditor shared a photo of a Tesla Supercharger station blocked off by caution tape. Their caption read, "There [were] no less than 7 cops at the Tesla chargers at the Target on Sleater Kinney. All the chargers were taped off."
Though the user's intention with the post was to share the waste of police force over a non-violent crime, the vandalism and negativity toward electric vehicles does present a rather troublesome issue.
As owning an EV can be a step to decreasing the tailpipe exhaust of gas-powered cars, which contributes to rising global temperatures and dirty fuel pollution, the electric transition is a largely important step to a clean energy future. Combined with other green measures, such as charging using solar panels, EV ownership can be even further eco-forward. EnergySage is a great resource to get free solar estimates.
Some Tesla vandalism has nothing to do with anti-EV sentiments, but more so with billionaire CEO Elon Musk and his previous political team-up with Donald Trump.
Regardless of personal beliefs, Tesla is one of the most well-known EV brands, and negative publicity, such as vandalism, may persuade people not to invest in electric vehicles if they believe their cars or necessary charging stations could become a target.
Plus, as one commenter pointed out, Tesla stations aren't the only ones affected, mentioning their experience seeing Nissan Leaf chargers getting vandalized.
Another commenter shared their input on taped-off, vandalized charging stations, saying, "I'm all for the boycott of Tesla, but I really wish people would leave the charging infrastructure alone. I know they profit off it, but it's also open to all other brands and many of us need them in critical places."
Would you be more likely to get an EV if it helped cut your energy costs?
Big time
Depends how much I'd save
Still a no for me
I already have an EV
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Motor 1
18 minutes ago
- Motor 1
‘Shoutout to the Kia:' Tesla Gets on Highway With Low Tire Pressure. Her Dashcam Captures the Harrowing Moment Things Go South
A woman went viral on TikTok after sharing the terrifying moment her car's tire flew off while she was driving on the highway. Simone (@ a beauty and lifestyle blogger, didn't say where she was driving, but in a recent video, she posted dashcam footage from her Tesla showing the tire coming loose mid-drive. 'Don't get on the highway with a low tire pressure, you not gon make it,' she warned in an on-screen caption. The clip, which had over 228,600 views as of this writing, shows the tire detaching and spinning across lanes, nearly hitting another car. Simone said it happened due to low tire pressure. Fortunately, the other driver braked in time, avoiding what could have been a serious crash. Why Driving With Low Tire Pressure Is Dangerous Driving with low tire pressure can be a lot more dangerous than it sounds. According to Car and Driver , it increases the risk of a blowout, and in some cases, as Simone demonstrated, the entire body of the tire can come off while you're on the road. Moreover, such a failure can cause you to lose control of the car, especially at high speeds. When your tires are underinflated, they flex more as they move, Toyota notes. That extra flexing creates heat, and too much heat can cause the tire to explode. A blowout on the highway can send your car swerving or spinning with almost no warning, and it only takes a second for things to go wrong. In more severe cases, the pressure loss can damage the wheel itself (leading to cracks or dents) or loosen the parts that hold it in place. That's how you end up with videos like Simone's of tires flying off mid-drive. Even if the wheel stays on, driving on low pressure can damage your suspension and other car components. So, if your tire pressure light comes on, it's essential to take it seriously. If nothing else, try to pull over somewhere safe and check your tires. A quick stop can save you from an expensive repair—or something far worse. How Do I Know if My Tire Pressure Is Low? If you pay attention while driving, you might be able to detect whether your car's tire pressure is low before your car formally warns you (usually via a small dashboard light shaped like a horseshoe with an exclamation point). Nissan , for instance, notes that you may feel your car ride is softer or spongier than usual, especially over bumps. Or it might pull to one side, take longer to stop, or get noticeably louder as the tires slap the pavement more than they should. The handy dashboard light, commonly referred to as the TPMS light , typically illuminates when one or more tires are underinflated. Still, that light usually doesn't come on until the pressure drops by about 25%. It's still worth checking your car manually, especially if you have plans to drive on the highway or take a road trip. If you're unsure how to check your tire pressure on your own, you don't need to guess. Use a tire pressure gauge and compare it to the number listed inside your driver's side door or in your car's manual. And if it's low, inflate it. Viewers Say Driver Dodged a Bullet Commenters on Simone's video didn't hold back: She got lucky. Many said the Tesla dashcam footage could've easily turned deadly and gave credit to the Kia driver for reacting fast. 'Y'all don't know how terrifying that is, the wheel could literally make someone flip,' one viewer said. 'Shoutout to the Kia maintaining their lane,' another added. 'That's terrible,' wrote a third. 'I just saw a news report of a girl that was hospitalized bc of a tire crash through a windshield.' Others were more skeptical, questioning how long Simone had been driving on low pressure. 'Didn't listen to your tire pressure monitor, did you??' one asked. 'Your tire was completely flat for it to do that,' wrote a second. 'That was not low tire pressure, u had no air, and u was riding on straight rubber!! Sorry u had to go thru that,' added a third. And some used the clip as a wake-up call. 'Whew… Let me go get my tires looked at,' one woman quipped. 'Girl, let me go put some air in my tire,' said another. Motor1 has reached out to Simone via a direct message on TikTok. Now Trending 18-Year-Old Buys Ford Escape from Alabama Dealer. Then He Tries to Trade it in Elsewhere and Learns How Badly He Was Fleeced 'A Joke That Had Serious Consequences:' Car Salesman Posts Video on Social Media. Then He Gets Indefinitely Suspended Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
CNN
18 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump says Qatari jet could be ready for use as Air Force One in 6 months. Experts are deeply skeptical
President Donald Trump told reporters last month the donated Qatari jet could be ready for his use as Air Force One in February 2026, well ahead of the long-delayed delivery of two presidential planes from Boeing through a more traditional acquisition process. 'They say February,' Trump said in late July, when asked by a reporter when he expected to be flying on the new plane. 'Much sooner than the others. The others are being built.' But former Defense officials and aviation analysts express deep skepticism about how realistic that timeline is, citing the immense task of upgrading a foreign government's plane to meet Air Force One's distinct requirements and ensuring it is safe and secure for a president to fly on, especially internationally. Andrew Hunter is a former assistant secretary of the Air Force under the Biden administration. He oversaw an annual budget of more than $54 billion for hundreds of acquisition programs, including Air Force One. He thinks it would be 'challenging, if not impossible,' to complete the jet in that timeframe without Trump waiving some of the requirements that typically need to occur before a president can fly on a new plane. 'It would not be possible to replicate all the capabilities of an Air Force One on (the donated jet), on any time frame shorter than what they're doing with (the Boeing program),' he said. Beyond the timeline concerns from an aviation perspective, the plan to use a donated Boeing 747-8 from Qatar poses a lot of questions and has drawn bipartisan scrutiny. Many are skeptical of the legality and ethics of accepting such a gift. Others are worried about the threat to security, based on how much goes into a jet fit for the leader of the United States. But Trump remains undaunted and continues to project optimism about the timeline. 'We'll get this one a year-and-a-half, two years earlier (than the Boeing planes),' the president told reporters in late July. The contracted jets continue to undergo renovations in San Antonio. The Qatari plane was previously parked in the city as well while awaiting upgrades, but open source aircraft tracker ADS-B Exchange shows the jet flew to Fort Worth Alliance Airport on June 29. The plane has rarely popped up on the open source tracker since then, with it last being recorded in late July at the Texas airport. Refurbishments on commercial jets that don't have the strict and complicated requirements of Air Force One can take weeks or months depending on how much work needs to be done and the age of the aircraft. For example, according to aviation website Simply Flying, certain maintenance checks involving the complete disassembly of a plane are done every six to 12 years. That comprehensive inspection typically takes between three to six weeks. But security concerns mean what the Qatari plane needs to undergo is even more arduous than that disassembly, experts say, and is very likely to take longer. The plane can be ready by February, said Richard Aboulafia, a managing director at boutique aerospace and defense management consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory, but not with the capability or security that an Air Force One needs, raising the possibility that the administration may plan to cut corners in order to deliver it in that timeframe. 'It is absolutely going to be ready to start flying in February,' Aboulafia said, 'and instantly transmitting every onboard conversation to anybody around the world who has a connection to it.' 'It's very different from stripping a plane down and inspecting it,' Aboulafia said. 'Very different – overhauling systems, overhauling engines, doing what you need to do to get the plane operationally ready. That's an extremely different job than scanning it for security risks, very different.' Retrofitting and installing the required security and communications equipment on a second-hand plane from another government, even a friendly one, is a monumental task, CNN has reported. US spy and security agencies tasked with the overhaul will need to essentially strip the aircraft down to its frame and rebuild it with the necessary equipment. The more changes made to the plane itself, said Frank Kendall, the Air Force secretary under the Biden administration, the more that will need to occur to ensure that it meets air-worthiness requirements, taking longer. 'There's a chance Trump will never get this airplane no matter what,' Kendall, who now does consulting work, said. However, Kendall, echoing other experts, said the donated jet could be ready in February, 'if the president waives almost all Air Force One unique requirements and minimizes modifications to the airplane.' 'It would probably result in a plane that would only be used inside the US,' he said. The White House and the Air Force did not respond to a request for comment. It's not clear where the upgrade process currently stands, and the experts CNN spoke to have not seen the jet in person. In early July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Qatari counterpart signed an agreement outlining the terms of the jet's 'unconditional donation,' CNN previously reported, although the terms have not been formally announced. An addendum to the agreement reviewed by CNN last month said the Air Force 'is in the process of finalizing the transfer of registration and will immediately begin execution of the required modifications.' Conversations about replacing the decades-old planes currently used by the president began years ago under former President Barack Obama. Momentum began picking up under the first Trump administration when he struck a deal to purchase two existing aircraft from Boeing, but the addition of a plane donated by the Qatari royal family has added a strange and some say concerning twist to the saga. In 2018, Boeing confirmed it received a $3.9 billion contract for two new presidential planes. By 2022, the president of the United States was supposed to be in a new plane. But that timeline also didn't pan out, leading Trump to find an alternative. When the president announced he planned to accept a jet from Qatar, it raised a lot of eyebrows. Several Republican senators expressed misgivings about the idea, noting the potential for security and legal risks. Trump's plan for the plane to go to his presidential library upon leaving office raised additional ethical concerns. And while Trump has said it would be stupid to turn down a 'free, very expensive airplane,' officials say renovating the jet could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. When asked how much it would cost to retrofit the new plane, Trump deflected. Officially, the price tag to retrofit the Qatari plane for use by the president is classified, but Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers in June that it will 'probably' cost less than $400 million. 'That's up to the military. I really don't know. I haven't been involved,' Trump said last month. 'It's their plane, it's, you know, the Air Force,' he said. 'They'll be spending that amount of money.' The Air Force is looking to fund the upgrades by transferring hundreds of millions of dollars from the vastly overbudget Sentinel program to an unspecified classified project, sources familiar with a congressional notification about the transfer previously told CNN. Sentinel is a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile system that is being developed to replace the US' aging Minuteman III missiles. Boeing's contract to replace two Air Force One jets had an original delivery date of 2022 – but now the planes are potentially expected by 2027, a timeline that would deliver them while Trump is still in office. It's one to two years earlier than Boeing had most recently predicted, after a global pandemic, supply chain issues and other problems stalled production and the company incurred losses totaling $2.5 billion on the program. Hunter, the former Air Force assistant secretary, argues one of the biggest design challenges of the program is finishing interior design work on the aircraft. In 2021, Boeing fired GDC Technics, which was hired as a subcontractor to design and build the interiors of the new planes, and later sued the company, citing delays. GDC Technics countersued and later filed for bankruptcy. Boeing declined to comment on where the interior work stands. While the Qatari jet will require a major overhaul to ensure its safety, security and operability as it carries the president, the new Boeing jets are following the more traditional route, made in the United States by a well-known manufacturer. And Aboulafia sees promise in the troubled company, which is trying to turn a corner. 'Everything is kind of turning around,' Aboulafia said. 'They just had the second clean quarter for their defense unit, which was amazing … I have a much higher level of confidence in all of their programs, really, as a consequence of the management changes.' Delivering the planes in the next two years – which Darlene Costello, the Air Force's acting acquisition chief, suggested was possible during her testimony before House lawmakers in May – would mark a significant acceleration for the project. 'I would not necessarily guarantee that date, but they are proposing to bring it in '27, if we can come to agreement on the requirement changes,' Costello said, referring to contract requirements that are being loosened to get to that earlier date – such as the Air Force 'relieving' Boeing of some of the top-clearance security requirements for workers performing work on the aircraft, which has also been blamed for some of the delays. Kendall, the former Air Force secretary, said at the forefront of the minds of those working on a new plane, should be safety and security, rather than cost or speed. 'As Defense Department acquisition executive, I was responsible for both Marine One and Air Force One,' Kendall said. 'Over the years, the people that set the requirements for these aircraft and that work at the White House are not constrained by time or money unless directed otherwise by the president. They're constrained by their imaginations about which scenarios might occur in which they might need something to support or protect the president. Those 'requirements' dictate both cost and schedule.' CNN's Alejandra Jaramillo, Natasha Bertrand, and Chris Isidore contributed to this report.
Newsweek
19 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump's Approval Rating Suddenly Slides With Conservatives
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump's approval rating has suddenly dropped among conservative adults, new polling has shown. According to a series of polls by The Economist/YouGov, the president's net approval rating has declined by 15 percentage points from July to August. Why It Matters During his presidency, Trump's popularity has fluctuated. Key issues, including his tariff policy and his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, have caused voter discontent. Conservatives are one of Trump's key voting bases. Losing their support could be damaging for the Republicans, especially when voters head to the polls in the November 2026 midterms. What To Know Prior to Trump's approval rating declining, it had increased steadily since May. It was net +67 percent then, and +68 percent in June. It then increased by 12 percentage points to +80 in July before falling to a new low in this time period, to +65 percent. Speaking to Newsweek, analysts suggested that his falling popularity was because of his trade and immigration policies, while other analysts previously pointed to factors like the Epstein scandal. Meanwhile, other general polls have suggested support for Trump is declining. According to a YouGov poll for British newspaper The Times, the proportion of people who disapprove of Trump's job performance has increased from 52 percent in April to 57 percent in July. President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus on August 5, 2025. President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus on August 5, 2025. AP Photo/Alex Brandon Newsweek analysis also revealed that Trump's approval rating is positive in 18 of the states he won in the 2024 election, and negative in 13. However, his approval rating has increased among liberals in the past month. Another poll showed Trump gaining more traction with Hispanic voters, a crucial demographic that traditionally supports Democratic candidates. What People Are Saying Heath Brown, an associate professor of public policy at City University of New York, told Newsweek: "The recent poll numbers are likely tied to two factors. First, many Republican voters are skeptical about the president's signature trade policies. Recent polling suggests that a sizable percentage of Republicans believe the tariffs are hurting the U.S. economy, and this is likely driving down support overall for the president. "Second, the most radical aspects of the administration's immigration policies, including many of its punitive deportation actions, are not supported by many Republicans. As these actions have gotten more attention, it seems likely that some Republicans have lost faith in the president." Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey, previously told Newsweek: "Trump's second term has been less of a honeymoon, but more of a divorce from half the country: one where he's got to keep the house, the kids and just about all of the assets. From day one of his rule by executive order he has never sought to bring the USA together and, indeed, has exploited differences to highlight how he's delivering on his campaign commitments, not least through DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency], through his clampdown on immigration and through his America First foreign policy." "Public services are already beginning to creak thanks to the actions of Musk and his cohort, and tariffs are driving up prices at home, while the economic benefits of the One Big Beautiful act have yet to be felt. And around all this, the whiff of Epstein is tainting the president's achievements." What Happens Next Whether Trump's standing among conservatives falls enough to impact Republicans in the November 2026 midterm elections remains to be seen. His popularity among all different demographics will likely fluctuate as his presidency continues.
