Posted on 02/05/2025 10:30:47 AM PST 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.
And these incidents are on the rise, according to Electrify America, which runs the nation's second-largest network of direct-current fast chargers.
While two years ago, a cable might be cut perhaps every six months at one of its 968 charging stations, 129 cables were cut through May this year.
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 ...
You can always siphon gas. Just another reason ( reason 1,234,546) as to why EV must die and gas is better.
Not a problem Simply outlaw private ownership of copper.
Exactly.
Ban wire cuttters!
I said this years ago, that copper thieves would make EVs unfeasible.
Hey, 20 bucks is 20 bucks!
Not just EVs.
Wind Turbines and Solar Panels.
These things use a huge amount of copper and generate not nearly enough electricity to justify their use of the material when compared to conventional generation.
EV’s are not going to happen. Let it go.
“outlaw private ownership of copper”
No pennies?
Good thing Buttgig only built 7 of them for 2bln $.
It happens.
A few years ago some thieving ‘Tard thought he had shut off the power to the well pump he was taking cable from.
Wrong breaker, he fried and died.
I am told the stench was incredibly foul when he was found.
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With the other charging stations (the ones I pay for) I get great service. That's the lesson that should be learned about EV's, chargers, and just about everything else in life. Get the govt out of the way and let the free market decide. No subsidies for EV's, no punishments for gas cars.
(Disclaimer: I did my research before making one of our two cars an EV. The road trips we like to take are typically in dense populations up the eastern seaboard where there are plenty of fast chargers, not during the winter when going up north, and the few road trips we'd take without good charging options are the ones that's good for our gas pickup.)
Not good, but why does a charging cable with $20 worth of copper in it, cost $1,000?
“’This worries me the most’“
Yeah of all the problems this is the biggest threat. As if.
I like how they use one person’s post on X to support their view.
this is why regenerative hybrid systems that ford would use is a good way to go. I get 40mph with my lincoln mkz. excellent.
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