This has been quite a week for absurd news emanating from the world of electric vehicles.

First, there was the story by the BBC about activists deflating the tires on a Tesla and leaving a flyer under the car’s windshield wiper scolding the owner for harming Mother Gaia by driving his “gas-guzzling SUV.” When an enterprising reporter found the group – which calls itself the Tyre Extinguishers – and questioned why it would accuse a Tesla of guzzling gas, the group’s spokesperson denied its activists had made an error, and notified all Tesla owners that they, too are guilty of killing the planet.

“Hybrids and electric cars are fair game,” the spokesperson said. “We cannot electrify our way out of the climate crisis – there are not enough rare earth metals to replace everyone’s car and the mining of these metals causes suffering.” That’s actually a valid point – I have written at great length about the lack of adequate rare earth and critical mineral supplies to power this nutty transition. That said, referring to a Tesla as a “gas-guzzling SUV” is simply idiotic, and displays a complete lack of intellectual honesty and self-awareness on the part of this fringe protest group.