A New Trend....
 

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VIDEO: Brazen thieves steal EV charging cables

https://www.foxla.com/news/video-bra...ing-cables.amp

LOS ANGELES - Copper thieves have an easy new target... electric vehicle charging stations that are filled with copper wiring.


Brazen thieves were caught on camera cutting the wires from a charging station in Van Nuys.

"Out of the 40 stations that we have, 38 of them were stolen and the other two were damaged," said CEO of the nonprofit One Generation Jenna Hauss.

She says the estimated cost in damages is over $18,000.

"It’s frustrating. I get that anybody that experiences theft or loss you can take it personal but for it to happen to a non-profit, where we serve over 8,000 individuals a year; the most frail older adults homebound isolated, caregivers families...it just stings that much more."

The parking lot of One Generation is well lit and gated, but the gate was cut wide-open. The incident occurred Tuesday around 2:30 a.m.

Thieves are selling the charging cables to scrap metal dealers, and since most public charging stations are unattended... they are easy targets.

The Los Angeles Police Department told Hauss that this kind of theft is becoming a new trend as more charging stations open up.




Unfortunately, this will become widespread...

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Theft of all things is only widespread because our culture blames the victim rather than perpetrator.

I arrested the guy that shattered a burger joint window a couple months ago, and everyone was shocked, like I'm the weird one for holding someone accountable for their criminal behavior.

What are the odds....
....that it's the wireless induction charging manufacturers putting their thumb on the scale?

This is going to leave a lot of people stranded when they drive up to a charging station to find it disabled with not enough range left to drive to the next closest charging station.

Maybe charging stations will automatically signal their operators when anything appears to be damaged, and that info will show up in apps whic show you the nearest stations.

It is hopeful thinking, and won't happen, because no operator will want to advertise that their station is not working:(

Maye the cable should be secured until the station is unlocked for a charge cycle.

Or they could just add a circuit that responds to a loss in continuity and signals a loud alarm on the charger?

That's kinda besides the point. The owners aren't just going to feed a continuous stream of copper to crackheads. The stations will stay down. There's no money in providing charging anyhow, so the fact that they existed in the first place was a small miracle.

A while back I saw video of a retractable EVSE public charger attached to a street light or utility pole. The user summons the cable with an app, and when finished it retracts back overhead.

The so-called "principle of insignificance" is often applied when the stolen item is perceived as "cheap", yet this doesn't take in account how eventually hard it is for someone who worked hard to buy it. Unfortunately this culture is nearly everywhere.