A city in California that was gaining critical headway in introducing electric vehicle chargers had to return to the starting point after an increasingly frequent unfortunate event.
At the end of July, the city of Vallejo began construction on charging ports for three community centers and installed new chargers in four downtown parking lots through a partnership with EVCS.
Sliced Wires
However, the Times-Herald “visited every new charging station” and found that the wires had been sliced. Even caution tape was covering one station.
As part of the city’s plan to open charging stations, the first parking lot was simply waiting for Pacific Gas & Electricity’s approval to turn on the power.
Covered in Electrical Tape
The uncovered wires at that lot were covered in electrical tape, yet that wasn’t the case for any other exposed charger wires found by the Times-Herald.
It was not clear if the city knew about the issue of the vandalized charging lots, as it had not answered requests for comment.
Anti-EV Beliefs
In the past, people who cut electric vehicle chargers were against EVs. It was either this, or they would have some sort of personal vendetta against them.
This is no longer the case. Many people who cut electric chargers do so because they want to make some money. However, the money they make is incomparable to what it costs the city to replace the chargers.
Replacement Delays
In one instance, workers at a community center who were installing new chargers were only a few feet away from stations that had been vandalized, and they hadn’t even noticed the cut wires until someone pointed them out.
One specialist said the vandalized stations were introduced that very week, yet now “it could take weeks to get replacements,” according to the Times-Herald report.
Cost to City
29 charging wires had been affected altogether.
In the event that those wires cost equivalent to the ones from comparable organizations, the Times-Herald has assessed the city would be forced to pay “more than a half a million dollars and change for chargers that the public hasn’t been able to use yet.”
An Unprecedented Amount of Repairs
Even the repairs they are making to the electric chargers aren’t holding up. In one case, some electric charging cables were cut a week after they were installed, and one month after they were repaired, they were cut again.
This is frustrating to electric car owners, the city, and the owners of the sites of electric chargers. Car owners are struggling to find places to charge their vehicles, and site owners and the city are frustrated because of how much the repairs cost them.
A Common Occurrence
Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common occurrence regarding electric vehicle chargers. There was a spate of attacks on chargers in Philadelphia, which seems to be due to the copper wires inside the chargers.
Copper is roughly $5.20 a pound, and electric vehicle chargers make it easier for thieves to steal and make a fortune. Many electric car owners are asking for something to be done, as they cannot charge their cars and feel they should have stuck to gas.
A Desperate Situation
The issue is that a lot of people are pretty desperate. Many are struggling financially to make ends meet and are willing to do anything to earn extra money to afford the very basics, such as food and paying the bills.
The situation has become so bad that people are willing to risk being arrested just so that they can make some money from stealing and selling the copper.
No Arrests Made
At the time of writing, no arrests have been made, and it is completely unknown who has been cutting the chargers and whether it is a handful of people, a large group, or multiple people working individually.
Many people, including the police, hope that those responsible will be found, but it is unknown what charges they will face.
Previous Vandalism
This isn’t the first time that vandalism has been targeted at EV owners. EV chargers have been vandalized in a number of cities, posing a significant problem for both residents and city officials.
For example, in the Minnesota-St. Paul area, officials discovered that approximately 83 chargers had been damaged, necessitating costly repairs and a lack of EV owners’ access to charging stations.
It’s Dangerous To Cut EV Charging Cables
Aside from anything, cutting EV charging cables is incredibly dangerous, and people are risking their lives just to take a bit of copper out so they can sell it.
The amount of electricity inside an EV charging cable can be fatal. As most charging cables contain just over two pounds of copper, people risk their lives to make a little over $10.
Going Unnoticed
The people cutting the charging cables are becoming clever at going unnoticed. One community center had workers on-site who hadn’t noticed the cut chargers until someone pointed it out to them.
In this particular instance, the workers were shocked because the charging stations had only been fitted a week before the incident, and they had no idea the thieves were working so quickly.
Issues With Security
One of the main reasons people have been able to get away with cutting the electric chargers is a lack of security. Security is only on-site from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., meaning thieves can enter at any other time.
It is believed that people were stealing the wires very early in the morning. As security also isn’t hired during the holidays, it is believed that people might have been stealing the wires during this time as well.
Increased Security
This not only prevents the attempts to advance cleaner transportation and a better climate it likewise adds superfluous costs and deferrals to the establishment of fundamental infrastructure.
The Times-Herald noted that the city of Vallejo had previously declined to comment on whether newly installed charging stations would increase property security.
More Things Need To Be Done
More things need to be done as thieves continue to return to various sites to cut the electric charging cables and steal the copper wires from inside them.
Some have suggested extra security, such as putting up gates when sites are closed to prevent people from getting in. This is just one suggestion; most people give out suggestions in the hope that one of them will work.
2025 Plans
Vallejo Transportation Program Superintendent Mark Helmbrecht said in a past statement that the objective was to have the chargers ready by 2025, yet it’s not known how much the vandalism has slowed down those plans.
The city was planning on moving ahead with construction while SolTrans had decided they were going to stop replacing the stolen wires at Curtola Parkway commuter lot last week.
Bills and Patrols
According to SolTrans General Services Manager Pat Carr, the company did not see the point in paying the bill of $20,000 in order to replace the wires any longer.
The city has a current contract with AX9 Security who are tasked with patrolling downtown lots as well as the lots behind City Hall which saw their wires cut.
A Billion-Dollar Problem
Many people see this as a pointless act because the thieves can only make a few dollars per pound of copper sold. What makes it even more frustrating is that they are creating a billion-dollar problem for the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Energy has reported that constantly replacing EV charging stations and cables results in at least $1 billion in annual losses.
Increasing Charger Availability
As production of EV chargers has doubled over the past four years under the Biden administration according to the U.S. Department of Energy, the latest figures show that the number of stations available has increased to 192,000.
This figure is set to grow at a rapid rate as 1,000 new chargers are anticipated to be added every week.
Other Copper Sources Are Being Targeted
Copper is being targeted at EV charging stations, electrical substations, cellular towers, telephone landlines, railroads, water wells, construction sites, and vacant homes.
It appears that the thieves will stop at nothing to get their hands on the copper, and the situation continues to worsen. Copper is stolen within days or weeks of being replaced.
Plenty of Opportunities for Theft
There are plenty of opportunities for thieves to steal copper. Aside from the various places they can get it from, there are 10,000 Tesla supercharging stations in California alone.
Eventually, the chargers they steal from will have to be replaced with another, giving them even more opportunities to steal the copper. The hope is that preventative measures will soon be implemented to stop the thieves from doing this.
Grants Awarded
$521 million has been awarded in grants in order to further expand the access for EV owners to charging stations along with U.S. highway system.
According to Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, “The Biden-Harris Administration has been clear about America leading the EV revolution, and thanks to the historic infrastructure package, we’re building a nationwide EV charger network to make sure all drivers have an accessible, reliable, and convenient way to charge their vehicles.”
Future Goals
The U.S. government has ambitions to deploy 500,000 public chargers across the country by 2030 meaning that production will require ramping up as the figure is only a third of that target at the moment.
However, officials are under the impression that the number will actually be surpassed thanks to the increases in weekly EV charger implementation.
According to US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, the figures will reach 1.2 million chargers at the start of the new decade.
