Posted on 06/12/2024 2:57:19 PM PDT by Red Badger
Across the U.S., thieves have been targeting electric-vehicle charging stations, intent on stealing the cables, which contain copper wiring
DETROIT -- 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
All that the US needs to do is outlaw reselling catalytic converters and copper cables except through licensed government providers.
Then there is this:
Thieves Steal Miles Of Copper Wire, Leaving LA’s Sixth Street Bridge In The Dark
Copper thieves continue to run rampant in Los Angeles, striking the Sixth Street Bridge again and leaving certain areas of the bridge in the dark. The famed East Los Angeles bridge was found by residents with exposed electrical boxes and missing wires. Neighbors who frequent the bridge were worried about the dangers of stealing electrical wire from the fuse boxes. “I think it’s a pretty bad idea. It’s also really dangerous for them too, they are not electricians – there is a reason why this stuff is covered up,” said Hector Pereira, a neighbor who walks on the bridge. Another neighbor, Billy Avellan, said he’s been documenting the vandalism and that the issue has been going on for months. “I first reported it to 311 six months ago,” said Avellan. “It’s sad. I walk this bridge every day, I can’t take a regular walk that you tax me for every time – because it’s too dark. It’s not safe.“ Earlier this year Los Angeles city leaders called for action against the ongoing copper theft in the city, stating that it was costing taxpayers millions of dollars to replace. At a press conference back in January, city leaders called for a $400,000 plan to create a “copper wire theft task force” to help curb the crime. “I’m tasking our bureau to figure out a better way to reinforce you know it’s not a question of if they come back it’s a question when they come back - it’s almost virtually impossible for them to steal it,” said Councilmember Kevin de León.
NBC 4
You’re correct. We should be telling the fools to pound sand and go away. We should do the right thing; which is to produce oil and coal while slowly, securely, methodically work on any possible better alternatives. But there is no money and graft in that.
Here you have to show photo ID and the junk yards have cameras just like banks. Even if you just have a few bags of aluminum cans.
.......
Aluminum is a lousy conductor.
Plus they will steal the aluminum also...the metal is at very high prices nowadays.
Remember how often you’d pull into a gas station only to find all the hoses on the pumps stolen?
Yes, very sad........
Aluminum’s not a great conductor, but it’s far from lousy.
The price of scrap aluminum these days is about a tenth of the price of scrap copper.
Your idea is the only thing that makes sense. Would need larger gauge wire to carry equivalent loads, but compared to copper, aluminum is cheap. having the charging station display the fact and those that can read will get the idea. The size & weight of the cabling should be a deterrent all in itself.
Trailer with an IC based electrical generation.
Use hemp wires.
Unless you want to be confined to a 75 mile radius, you’re gonna want to charge those things somewhere else from time to time. Just one more reason EVs have not caught on in my home State. (200 registered out of 230,000 vehicles)
How come no one has ‘cordless charging’ for EVs like for cell phones? That would keep the meth heads and other scrap stealers out of the equation.
IF they changed the charging system thus:
An ‘UMBILICAL CORD” system carried in the vehicle by the vehicle owner.
It plugs INTO the VEHICLE & into the charger-—2 “male” ends-—remove & take with vehicles when you are done.
Current system invites vandalism.
I don’t understand. Copper is $4.45 per pound. What are those cables worth for copper? Like $10? Maybe they sell the cables rather than sell them for copper.
EVs are about as practical as having a 747-400 for grocery shopping and buzzing the kids to school.
Lack of public safety distorts the market.
An EV housing it’s own charging cable apparently doesn’t make sense.
So owners of EVs need 24 hour security for their vehicles? Can’t park them inside the garage, for fear of a fire that takes out the entire structure.
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