Posted on 10/13/2024 5:20:11 PM PDT by dennisw
The reason thieves are targeting EV charging cables is because they contain copper wiring.
The price of copper is near a record high on global markets, so criminals stand to collect rising sums of cash from selling the material.
But while it costs $1,000 to replace a charging cable, authorities say, thieves only stand to make $20 reselling the metal.
Thieves have been caught on camera in Seattle targeting an EV charging station on the edge of a shopping center parking lot.
CCTV footage shows them using bolt cutters to snip several charging cables and load them into a truck - all in just a few minutes.
A new threat is posing further obstacles to electric vehicle ownership for Americans.
Thieves are targeting charging stations and stealing the cables. This can mean the loss of $1,000-plus cables - but there is an even bigger knock-on effect.
Crooks cutting wires can disable entire stations - forcing owners to search desperately for another working charger that might be miles away.
So-called 'range anxiety', slow charging and a lack of public stations have long put Americans off switching to EVs - despite tax credits from President Biden.
And now broken down chargers are exacerbating the problem - giving skeptical buyers one more reason to stick with gas cars for now.
'For the myriad reasons people give for EVs not working, cable theft is the one that would worry me the most,' one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
What are the other THREATS to EV adoption?
Cry me a river.
Old news.
Only addicts cut cables for $20, so the irony is that xiden’s own policies are at fault (fentanyl/border).
Nobody could have expected this.
Go after them big time, and so much of this copper and brass stuff is clearly stolen, from lamp posts, cemeteries, new copper pipe from house, etc.
It will soon come to having to carry your own cable in your car to plug into the charging station.
I did that once while I was working at a Chevron gas station in Maple Valley, WA. Not my car. Very embarrassing.
And one more reason to steal it from your car, along with everything else.
There are a lot “better” images on line!😎
Why can’t they build wireless chargers, like they do for cell phones?
It was reported that at one time the copper thieves took so much wiring in the City of Detroit that they were responsible for half of the long stretches of residential streets being dark. Not the need to replace bulbs on the lamp posts.
Criminals liked all the darkness, though.
Eventually the cables will be with the cars. We had a pop-up trailer and it had a pull-out cable that you could plug in to run all the electrics on 120 VAC. Seems reasonable that EVs would adopt a similar configuration.
NOT NEW
HAS BEEN HAPPENING SINCE THE FIRST CHARGERS WERE PUT ITO PLACE.
The MAIN REASON CHARGERS ARE NOT BEING USED-—NO CABLE
Sounds like there is overlap with catalytic converter theft crews...that is their MO almost to a tee...roll up with the SawzAll (SUV/higher ground clearance target vehicle preferred...no Indy 500 jack needed for higher vehicles)...saw the cat off and outta there.
Like that saying that the helpless, hopeless poor people can’t succeed in trade school or college so turn to crime. (Also can’t figure out a way to get a photo ID to vote.)
But can figure out complex things including the evolution of car ignition systems that make the “hot wiring” of the 1950s look like the days of the Pharaohs. And new car door locks. Getting free cable TV (if they wanted it).
Hacking of house alarms. Invading bank accounts by cell phone.
But can’t find a job.
I thought of that a few weeks back:
PORTAL in car + PORTAL at charger==cable in-between.
Car owner carries cable with them.
Cannot get stolen.
I carry 15 foot HD battery cables in each vehicle. They do NOT get stolen.
The real crooks are the politicians that forced this EV thing on the country.
Some people are too stupid to be criminals..........
At least most pumps have breakaway hoses. :)
I think these thieves strip it and just scrap raw wire?...I have scrapped a few times (old A/C units) copper from roof tear offs etc. Also down here in Louisiana you have a check mailed to you for the copper alone and get cash for the other metals. Not much theft of cables here? The law and courts are pretty strict for just about anything.
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