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Thefts of charging cables pose yet another obstacle to appeal of electric vehicles
Associated Press ^ | June 12, 2024 | Tom Krisher

Posted on 06/12/2024 12:12:43 AM PDT by Olog-hai

Just before 2 a.m. on a chilly April night in Seattle, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup stopped at an electric vehicle charging station on the edge of a shopping center parking lot.

Two men, one with a light strapped to his head, got out. A security camera recorded them pulling out bolt cutters. One man snipped several charging cables; the other loaded them into the truck. In under 2½ minutes, they were gone.

The scene that night has become part of a troubling pattern across the country: Thieves have been targeting EV charging stations, intent on stealing the cables, which contain copper wiring. The price of copper is near a record high on global markets, which means criminals stand to collect rising sums of cash from selling the material.

The stolen cables often disable entire stations, forcing EV owners on the road to search desperately for a working charger. For the owners, the predicament can be exasperating and stressful.

Broken-down chargers have emerged as the latest obstacle for U.S. automakers in their strenuous effort to convert more Americans to EVs despite widespread public anxiety about a scarcity of charging stations. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they believe EVs take too long to charge or don’t know of any charging stations nearby. …

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Travel
KEYWORDS: automotive; chargingcables; crime; electriccars; ev; firetraps; thrft; tomkrisher
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1 posted on 06/12/2024 12:12:43 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

I predicted this several years ago, when I saw some folks with very long charging cables from their apartments out across sidewalk to their vehicles.


2 posted on 06/12/2024 12:31:45 AM PDT by Reno89519 (Build the Wall, Deport Them All. No amnesty for anyone.)
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To: Olog-hai

Recycled electrical copper wires over three dollars a pound. Somewhere I read that the copper of these charging cables was worth five dollars a pound a couple weeks ago. They might be an alloy or something.


3 posted on 06/12/2024 12:34:33 AM PDT by Reno89519 (Build the Wall, Deport Them All. No amnesty for anyone.)
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To: Reno89519
The government's solution: ban Chevys. Because who needs a Silverado? They
Are used to commit crimes. Get rid of chevys and cable theft will stop
4 posted on 06/12/2024 12:40:43 AM PDT by Ikeon (Ssdd, day 20,xxx, still surrounded with sub intelligent beings on all sides. )
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To: Olog-hai
In Joe Biden's new Green economy in America we spend 7.5 billion to get 8 electric car charging stations built.

We need to build 125,000 to replace the gas stations we already have in use.

But in Biden's New Green Economy, people are so desperate they are stealing $5000 cast iron fire hydrants to sell them for $10 to scrap yards.

So what chance do $3.00 a lb copper charging cable have to last a night in the Biden economy

5 posted on 06/12/2024 1:18:54 AM PDT by rdcbn1
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To: Olog-hai

Can I ask if they were male or female cable connectors on the ends?

I mean, it being June and all......


6 posted on 06/12/2024 1:21:28 AM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the Days of Lot; They did Eat, They Drank, They Bought, They Sold ......)
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To: rdcbn1
We need to build 125,000 to replace the gas stations we already have in use.

Why? EV vehicles are useless except for the communists to destroy ICE cars providing freedom of movement.

These "power stations" are powered by coal-fired electric plants so it's not about the environment.

7 posted on 06/12/2024 2:18:00 AM PDT by newfreep ("There is no race problem...just a problem race")
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To: rdcbn1

Our tax money shouldn’t be used to build any charging stations.

No one subsidized our gas stations. The market demanded them. Same with ev’s...if they are so great, the market will create the stations...sorta like Tesla does for their vehicles. I certainly don’t want my dollars put to that use.

That said, 8 stations built by tax dollars is simply ridiculous.


8 posted on 06/12/2024 2:19:08 AM PDT by Adder (End fascism...defeat all Democrats.)
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To: Olog-hai

Any recycling center that buys stolen charging cables is knowingly buying stolen goods. Even if they strip off the insulation they would be easily recognizable. Plus the buyer should take a photo of the seller and of his drivers license.

That will not stop all theft but will slow it down.


9 posted on 06/12/2024 2:32:26 AM PDT by Uncle Lonny
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To: Olog-hai

One solution. Use Aluminum as the conductor instead. Cables would have a larger diameter but their value would be less than a third of copper.


10 posted on 06/12/2024 2:56:08 AM PDT by reviled downesdad (Abortion is the genocide of people of color by Democrats.)
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To: reviled downesdad

Cables encased in a stainless mesh would discourage easy cutting.


11 posted on 06/12/2024 3:03:45 AM PDT by Does so ( 🇺🇦....We are in the later stages of a Communist takeover...)
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To: Olog-hai

Hmmmmmmm..... How to discourage EV cable theft.......build regular automobiles, trucks and SUVs, powered by that amazing, VERY clean burning internal combustion engine.

As has been stated previously: we have thousands of years of hydrocarbons under our feet. We have only drilled a few miles into the Earth. The western world knows how to use energy without pollution, and C02 IS NOT POLLUTION, it is plant food. The more C02 in the atmosphere, the greener the planet.


12 posted on 06/12/2024 3:18:58 AM PDT by Ronaldus Magnus III (Do, or do not, there is no try)
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To: Ronaldus Magnus III

“About 4 in 10 say a major strike against EVs is that they take too long to charge “
How did the media gaslight the other 6 in 10 who think waiting an hour or 2 to recharge is not long enough?


13 posted on 06/12/2024 3:38:48 AM PDT by brookwood (Fossil Fuels Are Climate-Affirming)
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To: Olog-hai

They can have the cables, just leave my catalytic converter alone.


14 posted on 06/12/2024 4:09:47 AM PDT by equaviator (If 60 is the new 40, then 35 must be the new 15.)
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To: reviled downesdad
" their value would be less than a third of copper."

Initially, yes. Then, as the demand for aluminum rises, the value of aluminum will rise, and the theft of aluminum charging cables and soda cans will ensue. It's a vicious cycle.

15 posted on 06/12/2024 4:16:23 AM PDT by AF_Blue (My decision-making skills closely resemble those of a squirrel when crossing a road)
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To: brookwood

with the large number of those “4 in 10”,who think it’s ok to wait an hour or two to charge an ev, moving to Florida...their first direct hit Hurricane may be just what it takes to convince them. “Range” means nothing when the battery dies in the miles long traffic jams...unless one loves the heat and leaves the ac off. then, of course, the lines at any charge station will be astronomically long. as a native Floridian and resident, a better idea is Don’t come here in the first place! just my 2.


16 posted on 06/12/2024 4:23:55 AM PDT by Qwapisking ("IF the Second goes first the First goes second" L.Star )
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To: SaveFerris
Can I ask if they were male or female cable connectors on the ends?

I mean, it being June and all......

You need a biologist to make that determination, per Justice Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson.

Or, we can ask the Surgeon General (I won't post his picture here, I just ate).

17 posted on 06/12/2024 4:26:34 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (At the end of 2023, the country bounces along like Custer on the way to Little Big Horn)
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To: Olog-hai

“About 4 in 10 U.S. adults”

Adults don’t play into
the EV sham.
I regulary commuted from
Houston to Roswell.
Hauling ass, it was a
9 to 10 hour trip.
Boredom plays a big roll.
There’s absolutely
nothing out there.
Those in the big cities
would surely suffer
from much more anxiety
worrying about the indian
attacks.


18 posted on 06/12/2024 4:31:57 AM PDT by Lean-Right (Eat More Moose)
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To: Olog-hai

That’s easy. Keep a high voltage/high amp charge running thru the cable while not being used.

ZAP!


19 posted on 06/12/2024 4:34:15 AM PDT by moovova ("The NEXT ELECTION is the most important election of our lifetimes!“ LOL...)
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To: SaveFerris

YES! but...that may be too “Binary”

Marx-o-crats will require, at least, a TRANS option. It will accept anything you stick into it.


20 posted on 06/12/2024 4:37:22 AM PDT by John Galt's cousin ("A republic, if you can keep it" B. Franklin, 1787)
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