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Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Speedbird 747

Following on from the scourge of catalytic converters being stolen, now thieves are tapping into the lucrative charging cable theft epidemic.

There is about £50 worth of copper in a charging cable. Replacement cost can be as high as £700. Thieves flog them for £200 apparently.

Another reason not to buy an electric car

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Andrew-T

This has to be a pretty predictable problem ? The price of copper doesn't often fall, partly because the Chinese have covered access to most global sources.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Xileno

Surely must be possible for the manufacturers to code the cable to the car, so if someone nicks it then it won't work.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Adampr

Try syphoning the fuel though.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Bolt

Surely must be possible for the manufacturers to code the cable to the car, so if someone nicks it then it won't work.

this is where induction charging would be best, I suspect a security tagged cable could be easily hacked/removed so the cable would be free to use again.

when I think that people not far from me charge cars on the road, yet afaia none have had a cable nicked yet though I won`t speak too soon.....

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - paul 1963

I thought once connected to the car and charging they were locked to the car and charger?

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Andrew-T

I thought once connected to the car and charging they were locked to the car and charger?

Rather like a cat-converter :-) ?

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - badbusdriver

Following on from the scourge of catalytic converters being stolen, now thieves are tapping into the lucrative charging cable theft epidemic.

Is really it an epidemic?.

Until such times as Jeremy Vine has discussed it, I'd consider it more a problem in certain areas than an epidemic!

Edited by badbusdriver on 15/01/2023 at 10:09

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - catsdad

If they are selling at double the scrap value these are presumably being resold for re-use? If so EV owners who suffer theft are victims of their fellow EV owners supporting a black market.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Adampr

If they are selling at double the scrap value these are presumably being resold for re-use? If so EV owners who suffer theft are victims of their fellow EV owners supporting a black market.

Well, yes, but you just stick it on eBay and write "spare cable bought for my leased EV, now gone back so cable no longer required" and people will be none the wiser.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - sammy1

Cable coded or locked to the car? No problem a quick tap with a lump hammer and its gone. Was always going to be a problem, a nice little earner for the same people that have made CAT stealing a mini industry. There was a chap on here who's cable stopped working Hyundai I think, price for a new cable he said was £200 but they did not have a spare

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Engineer Andy

Following on from the scourge of catalytic converters being stolen, now thieves are tapping into the lucrative charging cable theft epidemic.

There is about £50 worth of copper in a charging cable. Replacement cost can be as high as £700. Thieves flog them for £200 apparently.

Another reason not to buy an electric car

This is exactly why those of us who live in flats or terraced housing would find buying EVs to be not practical - on-road charging would an absolute gift for thieves and vandals, never mind all the other problems.

If thieves make a special effort to nick underground BT cables or risk life and limb to steal power cables from railways, then easy marks like unatteded EVs will be a great boon for them.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Wee Willie Winkie

£700 to replace? Rubbish.

I bought a 10 metre type 2 cable, brand new. £185. Shorter cables are obviously cheaper.

Honestly, the amount of negativity toward EVs on here is getting boring.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Engineer Andy

£700 to replace? Rubbish.

I bought a 10 metre type 2 cable, brand new. £185. Shorter cables are obviously cheaper.

Honestly, the amount of negativity toward EVs on here is getting boring.

I wasn't commenting on the price of the (replacement) cable but that they are an easy target for thieves and vandals when charging on a street or trailing a cable from a parked car across into a house of flat (someone will try it) over a long distance (which also will be a trip hazard).

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - skidpan

Honestly, the amount of negativity toward EVs on here is getting boring.

Buying a Mazda with a rotary engine is clearly the future.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Terry W

ICE is a dead end technology. Aside from pollution and climate impacts, it is a fundamentally limited resource and long term will continue to increase in price.

The way we live will not remain unchanged indefinitely - not just personal transport, but the impact of technology (internet, social media etc), jobs, family size, growing populations etc.

In 1950 there were ~2.0m private cars - now ~34m. Huge growth. Current levels may be unsustainable, and reduce.

Ownership may be replaced by short term rental and autonomous vehicles. Investment in public transport may reduce demand. Online services reduce transport need. Social and job demands evolve.

Uncomfortable though it may be there is no absolute human right attached to car ownership. If you can afford it, fine. If not find another solution.

This is no different to other things unaffordable to many or most - Caribbean holidays, private education, private healthcare, Michelin star restaurants etc etc.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - sammy1

"""Ownership may be replaced by short term rental and autonomous vehicles. Investment in public transport may reduce demand. Online services reduce transport need. Social and job demands evolve."""

Gov does not seem to have faith in autonomous vehicles. Very recent report by them seems to suggest there will be even more congestion.

EVs only suitable for about 50% of consumers so what are the rest going to do in the near future.. Public transport only any good in big cities and that is doubtful and the money spent on bikes as alternative total waste of money. Trains ha ha too expensive by far.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Engineer Andy

ICE is a dead end technology. Aside from pollution and climate impacts, it is a fundamentally limited resource and long term will continue to increase in price.

It's only 'dead' when the reources are limited enough that alternatives price it out of existence. That's not the case yet and won't be for a long time, unless of course 'the authorities' intervene and make it so by bumping up taxes even more and subsidising other tech even more.

Of course, as most if not all of the other tech is unaffordable or impractical for about 80% of car drivers, presumably you're advocating for the rich to heavily subsidise it only for the less well off (I don't mean just the poor), or would you like society to regress to the 1920s and 30s wher only the well-heeled owned cars and the rest had to put up with poor public transport and low social mobility and living conditions?

The way we live will not remain unchanged indefinitely - not just personal transport, but the impact of technology (internet, social media etc), jobs, family size, growing populations etc.

In 1950 there were ~2.0m private cars - now ~34m. Huge growth. Current levels may be unsustainable, and reduce.

It might help that we didn't invite or allow to stay so many illegals to start with. And 'may' be unsustainable is not 'will be', so why impoverish most people except the well-heeled, or is that your aim?

Ownership may be replaced by short term rental and autonomous vehicles. Investment in public transport may reduce demand. Online services reduce transport need. Social and job demands evolve.

Uncomfortable though it may be there is no absolute human right attached to car ownership. If you can afford it, fine. If not find another solution.

Why do I get the impression you'll be able to 'afford it'? Like with many other proposed social 'changes' on the horizon, those proposing them rarely have to endure such (often harsh) changes because they are well off to be able to afford to avoid them or are in positions of power and influence to circumvent the new rules / laws.

This is no different to other things unaffordable to many or most - Caribbean holidays, private education, private healthcare, Michelin star restaurants etc etc.

The difference is that expensive holidays, pricta healthcare, fancy restuarants aren't cruicial to everyday life (though decent healthcare is). Being socially mobile by owning a car so you can go to or do work without spening half your day travelling and waiting for buses and trains make many jobs viable.

I certainly coudn't do my former job as an engineer without one, and most firms didn't offer company cars unless you were a higher-up. Even when I was working and on a reasonable salary, there's no way I could afford to buy a new EV, and because I live in a flat but would';ve needed to regularly charge it, that would make ownership (presumably of one that was 5+ years old) not viable, given the issues regarding charging I've spoken of many times.

Eelectric vehicles can be a solution to some people at the moment, but it's blindingly obvious that they aren't for the vast majority - and not just for financial reasons, and nor will they be for decades because of the sheer amount of technical and logistical hurdles to overcome.

They won't be by 2030, nor 2040 and probably not even by 2050, given it would likely require many homes (entire housing developments) to either be completely demolished and rebuilt or to have such extensive modifications that it would take decades to save up to pay for them. The security and safety aspects I've spoken of above are just one not in EVs' favour. As yet, no-one has come up with a solution.

I also strongly believe that the climate issues have been deliberately over-egged, especially where so many of the 'predictions' and 'models' have got it drastically wrong, but are used as 'exact guides' to what WILL happen rather than the worst case of what MIGHT, with little verifiable proof to back up said models.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Andrew-T

<< ... would you like society to regress to the 1920s and 30s where only the well-heeled owned cars and the rest had to put up with poor public transport and low social mobility and living conditions? >>

In the 1920s and 30s the few car owners didn't use them for commuting as happens today; most workers lived close to work and used bus, tram or train if they didn't walk. Public transport then may look a bit seedy now, but was far 'better' than you suggest. The motor industry kept turning out cars aimed at the masses, many of whom eventually got to own one, probably second-hand or more. Public transport was better because it was the only option for many - now fewer people depend on it and it has become uneconomic.

As for social mobility, I don't think that has changed much, partly because I don't believe everyone at the bottom wants to climb, just to get more dosh from somewhere.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - bananastand

careful Andy! Too much truth in your answer. Get with the program and read Alex in the Telegraph saturday motoring section. OK he talks absolute d***** but you're saving the planet mmkay?

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - barney100

I was a visiting music teacher for 35 years and an EV only world would have made the cost of transport unaffordable. Gigging at weekends need a largish car for the kit too.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Bromptonaut

I was a visiting music teacher for 35 years and an EV only world would have made the cost of transport unaffordable.

Can you, Maths teacher style, show your workings for this calculation?

Gigging is a different question.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - bananastand

own nothing, live in a pod, stay in your zone, be happy. Private transport is for the elites but never mind.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Engineer Andy

own nothing, live in a pod, stay in your zone, be happy. Private transport is for the elites but never mind.

Don't forget to 'eat ze bugz' !

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - bananastand

also the problem of leaving your car charging at a public point and walking off to have a cappuccino or a croissant with your charming friends and finding some local ne'erdowells have yanked your cable out and chucked it in the canal

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Ana William

It is unfortunate that this issue has become a concern for EV owners, and it highlights the need for better security measures to protect charging equipment and vehicles.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - alan1302

Following on from the scourge of catalytic converters being stolen, now thieves are tapping into the lucrative charging cable theft epidemic.

There is about £50 worth of copper in a charging cable. Replacement cost can be as high as £700. Thieves flog them for £200 apparently.

Another reason not to buy an electric car

If it's a reason for not buying an electric car would you also not buy an ICE vehicle with a catalytic convertor?

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - Andrew-T

<< If it's a reason for not buying an electric car would you also not buy an ICE vehicle with a catalytic converter? >>

No, I'd make sure to buy one with a cat in a well-protected position.

Any - BEV Charging cables being stolen - movilogo

Most cat thefts are linked to few specific car models, while I believe EV charging cable theft can happen to any cars. Hence I think they are not like for like comparison.