Electric Vehicle Charging Piles in the US Vandalized Frequently
TapTechNews May 17th news, electric vehicle charging piles across the US are frequently vandalized and criminals seem to have targeted the copper wires of these charging facilities. Since the beginning of this year alone, hundreds of public fast and slow charging piles across the nation have been vandalized, causing great inconvenience to electric vehicle owners.
In the past, vandalism against electric vehicles and their charging facilities was usually out of an anti-electric vehicle stance or personal grudges. However, the recent vandalism incidents are more for economic motives, with the thieves' target being the copper wires in the cables, intending to make quick profits.
Although the thieves get very little收益 (profit) from the recyclers, for the operators of the charging piles and the cities where they are located, the cost of repairing and replacing the cables requires thousands of dollars. More importantly, the damage to the charging piles will seriously affect the travel plans of electric vehicle owners.
In Houston, Texas, the Tesla Supercharger stations have been hit the hardest in this wave of vandalism. According to local media KPRC, in the past two weeks, five Supercharger stations in Houston have been vandalized, resulting in a paralysis of the charging network. Tesla promptly notified the owners and carried out repair work to alleviate some of the problems.
The situation in California is similar. A video posted by social media user k9optima shows that all the charging pile cables of a Tesla Supercharger station in Vallejo have been cut.
Besides Tesla Supercharger stations, other brands of charging piles are also not spared. The newly installed charging piles of Puget Sound Energy (PSE) in Sumner, Washington, have been vandalized twice in just one month.
In Fresno, California, strict measures are being taken to deal with the charging pile vandalism incidents. Recently, 50 public charging piles in the city have been vandalized, accounting for more than half of the 88 charging piles in the city. To curb the vandalism, Fresno has decided to install custom metal cabinets for the damaged charging piles and lock them during off-peak hours. Melissa Alaguer, manager of the city's Parking Management Department, said, 'We will postpone the repair of the damaged charging piles until the metal cabinets are in place. At the same time, we will also strengthen security measures.' The cost of custom metal cabinets for the 88 charging piles and their installation is expected to reach 176,000 US dollars, while the raw material value of all the charging pile cables stolen by the thieves is only 500-750 US dollars.
Foreign media Insideevs said that the reason why charging piles are easily targeted is partly due to their geographical location. Charging piles are usually installed in places convenient for public use, such as shopping centers, universities, large retailers, pharmacies, fast-food restaurants, public parks, etc. Although these places have a large number of people during the day, they are almost unguarded at night. If more charging piles are installed along the main traffic routes, such as along highways, or if the charging piles are installed in well-lit gas stations where there are people on duty, the risk of being vandalized may be reduced.
In recent years, with the construction of the global electric vehicle infrastructure, such vandalism incidents against charging piles are becoming more and more frequent. However, TapTechNews noticed that some of the vandalism behaviors are not for profit, but out of malicious anti-electric vehicle. For example, previously a man in British Columbia, Canada, blocked the charging plugs of a Tesla Supercharger with sealant, resulting in the inability to use the charging station. Last month, a Ford Ranger driver in Taupo, New Zealand, smashed a Tesla Supercharger with a hammer and was arrested for staying at the scene for too long.