Police have not commented on any link between incidents, leaving owners worried about future public parking.
Police are investigating six incidents where electric vehicles have been targeted by a spray paint pest who has left cars so damaged they cannot be driven.
The owners believe the attacks are politically motivated and a protest act against Tesla’s controversial chief executive Elon Musk.
A police spokesperson said they were in the very early stages of inquiries into six complaints made regarding wilful damage to vehicles in the Auckland City West area.
“Police are aware of reports relating to incidents in the Mount Eden, Freemans Bay, Grey Lynn and Ponsonby areas on Sunday night.
“We are still working through the complaints to establish exactly what has occurred and who is responsible.
”It is too early to say at this point in time whether the matters are linked, however we are keeping an open mind," the spokesperson said.
One of the latest victims to have his vehicle defaced has supplied a video to the Herald showing a man using spray paint to render the car undrivable.
The clothing the man is wearing matches footage also taken on Sunday night of another attack, leading owners to believe they have been targeted by the same person.
They fear they will never be able to park their vehicles on the road or even in public spaces again.
A Freemans Bay resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said when he tried to leave for work at 5.30am, he discovered his car vandalised with pink paint.
Photos of the car show a similar spray paint pattern as other vehicles targeted, with a scribble over the driver’s side window, paint over the headlights, number plates, wing mirrors and a long line down the side.
The resident said his car had to be towed and is now getting repaired.
The man said his Tesla had to be towed after the spray paint rendered it undrivable.
The man said when he checked the car’s built-in cameras, he saw that a man arrived at his home at 11.52pm.
A Freemans Bay Tesla owner believes the man he captured spraypainting his car (left) is the same man captured spraypainting a Polestar on the same night in Mt Eden (right).
He had since warned friends with Teslas to avoid parking them on the road.
Another Tesla owner in Grey Lynn who also had a car vandalised on Sunday night said they had a sticker on the back of their car that reads: “We bought this car before Elon Musk went crazy”.
They said the action did nothing to Musk and only hurt “normal people”.
Another Grey Lynn resident, who also wished to remain anonymous out of fear that the vandal would return, said their Polestar was also spraypainted on the same night. They said their car was also undrivable and had to be towed.
The owner of a Polestar in Grey Lenn saidshe believes her car was mistaken for a Tesla before it was vandalised.
A photo of a car which had also been targeted in nearby Ponsonby was shared on social media on Monday, showing a white Tesla covered in pink paint on Ponsonby Rd.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Jonsson told the Herald he woke on Monday morning to find spray paint all over his Polestar, which was parked in the driveway of his Mt Eden home.
He suspected the alleged vandal mistook the car for a Tesla and was trying to conduct a similar protest to those that have occurred overseas against Tesla’s controversial chief executive.
An image shared to social media shows a white Tesla covered in pink paint.
Yesterday, police said they were in the early stages of investigating but would not comment on a possible link between the incidents.
It comes after multiple attacks on Teslas and Tesla dealerships in the US including a 13-day attack by a Colorado woman.
She once spraypainted “Nazi” in black under the dealership’s entrance sign. Another time, she came with four Smirnoff Ice bottles filled with petrol, flung them at electric vehicles parked around the dealership and watched as they burned.
Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.
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