Thieves stealing Level 3 cables

[BudC]

Great...that's all we need now...

https://apnews.com/article/electric...copper-tesla-5f003686cade63fade2e8d7dd3402f3a

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[RickMachE]

Not new.

 

[Jeff-NoVA]

Copper thieves will steal anything they can get their meth-covered hands on. The only fix is punishing the shady scrap dealers who buy the stolen copper.

 

[Bruboy]

Makes sense, the cable on the L3 at the Ford Dealership requires super-human strength.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Fortunately this is still a rare event.

Unfortunately, this is yet one more article that preys on the FUD associated with charging.

 

[dbsb3233]

I was around in the days where stealing gas from people's cars was a thing (70's). Many of us ended up buying locking gas caps.

It's always something.

 

[Jerrytball]

Not new.

Sister died in 2010 in Detroit the next day the house was gutted of all piping.

 

[RickMachE]

I'm referring to charging cables being stolen, not copper in general.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Not new.

Sadly, quite true.

 

[silverelan]

Fortunately this is still a rare event.

Unfortunately, this is yet one more article that preys on the FUD associated with charging.

unfortunately, not that rare here in the Seattle area.

I asked EVgo about a local station getting its cables replaced and they said they won’t bother due to theft. EA just replaced the cables on the nearby station but apparently left off the CHAdeMo plug because, theft.

The Issaquah Starbucks-Volvo station opened in May and within a week the cables were stolen.

 

[DennisD]

Not sure if this would be legal, but they could make the wire "live" going to the plug. It is my understanding that the wire is only "hot" when plugged into the car. If the wire was "hot" before that point, one would get zapped (and possibly killed) if they tried cutting it.

If you placed warning signs similar to transforming stations, I would guess that would at least protect those that adhere to warning signs?

Now they would need to engineer to have the power cut off as soon as it was cut though but it would be live when cutting it. With the amount of voltage going through those cables, I would guess it would arc enough that even with insulated cutters, one would be vulnerable?

Just a thought...............

 

[david_quick]

unfortunately, not that rare here in the Seattle area.

I asked EVgo about a local station getting its cables replaced and they said they won’t bother due to theft. EA just replaced the cables on the nearby station but apparently left off the CHAdeMo plug because, theft.

The Issaquah Starbucks-Volvo station opened in May and within a week the cables were stolen.

[/QUOTE
PSE installed a couple of DCFC at Old Cannery in Sumner and they were not even active yet when the cables were stolen.

 

[JeffGo]

unfortunately, not that rare here in the Seattle area.

I asked EVgo about a local station getting its cables replaced and they said they won’t bother due to theft. EA just replaced the cables on the nearby station but apparently left off the CHAdeMo plug because, theft.

The Issaquah Starbucks-Volvo station opened in May and within a week the cables were stolen.

Yeah, and the EA chargers at the Redmond Target, too. Closest to my house.

 

[silverelan]

I had a good conversation with a high level executive at a DCFC hardware manufacturer about copper theft. I was told that they explored using aluminum but apparently it’s forbidden due to electrical codes. Cut-resistant sheathing isn’t feasible due to weight and flexibility. Keeping the cable energized to allow for “natural selection“ is also prohibited by code.

The solutions they’re coming up with are deterrence and staffing. Passively, they can use obvious cameras, bright flood lighting, signage, etc. However, the best solution is 24/7 personnel, which is why travel centers are ideal locations for DCFC hardware security.

 

[bbulkow]

Great...that's all we need now...

https://apnews.com/article/electric...copper-tesla-5f003686cade63fade2e8d7dd3402f3a

It seems to be getting more common though. There's a town near-ish me with friends who just got a Rivian so we talk EVs. That town has been trying to invest in L3 chargers for their downtown, it was going OK, now a set of thieves has targeted it. They must have worked out how to strip the insulation, a place to sell the copper and the right kind of cutters and all that. It looks that town might end up on a "do not replace" list.

You only need a few people who have their exact MO to start hitting a different station every night or two to do a lot of damage to our charging ecosystem. It's not obvious what you would do to stop it, other than larger more centralized charging and 24 hour guards. Tesla's network will probably be easier / more economical to guard since the stations tend to be a lot bigger.

It's not like the police are helpless. They've done major damage to shoplifting rings and cat converter theft. Agencies are starting to rely more on license plate scanners (SF recently put in a web of 100 of them and tout this as the purpose). But it takes them time to target that ring, and there's always cat-and-mouse (shift to license plate scanners, shift to printing a license plate overlay, etc).

Sigh. I do think the problem is real.

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