Police investigate after two parked EVs spray painted

A Tesla parked in Ponsonby and a Polestar parked in Mt Eden have been spray painted, the latter attributed to a case of mistaken identity.

CCTV recorded a man spray-painting a Polestar parked in Mt Eden on Sunday night while a photo shared on social media shows a white Tesla parked in Ponsonby painted in pink across headlights, number plates and other parts..

Sebastian Jonsson told the New Zealand Herald he woke on Monday morning to find spray paint on the family’s Polestar which had been bought a month earlier. leaving it undrivable because of blue paint on taillights and number plates.

Jonsson wonders if the alleged vandal mistook the car for a Tesla and was trying to copy overseas protests against Tesla chief executive Elon Musk after he backed US president Donald Trump and became a senior advisor.

An image of a Tesla allegedly vandalised with spray-paint while parked on Ponsonby Rd was shared to social media Wednesday morning.

The incidents come after a person allegedly attacked a Tesla dealership in Colorado in the US.

Guns have been fired at Tesla storefronts, Molotov cocktails thrown at Tesla vehicles in car lots and other violent acts carried out, The Washington Post reports.

Radio New Zealand and the ABC have also been running stories on the Musk backlash.