Just before 2 a.m. on a chilly April night in Seattle, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup pulled up to an electric-vehicle charging station at the edge of a shopping center parking lot. Two men got out, one of them wearing a light wrapped around his head.
Security cameras showed them getting out bolt cutters, one of them cutting some charging cables, while the other loaded them into the truck. Less than two and a half minutes later, they were gone.
Thieves in the Seattle metropolitan area have stolen more than 100 electric vehicle charging cables in the past 12 months.
The scene is part of an alarming pattern across the country: thieves are targeting electric vehicle charging stations to steal cables that contain copper wire, which is near record highs on global markets and fetching $2 to $5 a pound from recyclers.
Stolen cables often render entire charging stations unusable, forcing EV owners to desperately search for functioning chargers.
That adds to concerns already felt by EV owners and potential buyers about a lack of charging stations — bad news for U.S. automakers hoping to get more drivers into electric vehicles.
In the past 12 months, thieves in the Seattle metropolitan area have stolen more than 100 electric vehicle charging cables. The situation is similar in Los Angeles, where theft of copper wire from streetlights and rail tracks has been a serious problem for years. The stolen charging cables are the latest addition to a trove of items that have cost taxpayers about $17 million over the past few years.
States like Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Pennsylvania are also beginning to feel the pinch.
The copper in charging cables is hard to extract (thieves just burn through the insulation) and there isn't much of it to begin with, so thieves estimate it would cost around $15-$20 per cable. These figures don't seem to deter cable cutters; after all, stealing just 20 cables could net them a profit of $300-$400.
Charging companies like Electrify America are fighting back by installing more security cameras, while consumers may find this another reason to stick with the security of their gas-powered vehicles.
