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When Bob Schneiderman walked out to the driveway of his Mid-City Los Angeles house one recent morning, he noticed something missing: the all-important charging cord for his electric car. "I couldn't believe it," Schneiderman told the NBC4 I-Team. "It made no sense. I thought maybe I'd left it somewhere." Then on a hunch, he looked back at his RING security camera, and noticed that at 5:22 a.m., a man in a hoodie and mask walked up his driveway, unplugged the cord from his car, unplugged the other end from the outside wall socket, and took off on a bike. .....
Copper is $4 per pound. That's in usable form not wire that has to be processed, melted and purified.
There are now more than 1 million electric vehicles in California, and pricey cables used to charge them are a hot item for thieves, who either post them on popular resale websites or sell them for scrap metal since they're full of expensive copper wiring
My Electrify Home charger is worth about $500, the cable is pretty worthless as they would have to cut it. It probably only contains a few dollars worth of copper. If someone tried to sell a cut charging cable, I think it would probably be worth a few laughs, nothing more. I think it's more vandalism than theft.
What they may be stealing is the mobile chargers, but most EV owners don't even use those, which is why they are now sold separately
Last edited by AMIRZA786; Jul 14, 2023 at 10:08 PM.
People cutting wires while charging....going to be an electrifying experience for them lol.
Originally Posted by AMIRZA786
My Electrify Home charger is worth about $500, the cable is pretty worthless as they would have to cut it. It probably only contains a few dollars worth of copper. If someone tried to sell a cut charging cable, I think it would probably be worth a few laughs, nothing more. I think it's more vandalism than theft.
What they may be stealing is the mobile chargers, but most EV owners don't even use those, which is why they are now sold separately
"And replacing his stolen cable was pricey at $2,700"
My cable is no where near that expensive. It's also in my garage, so this is not a concern for me.
I continue to not understand why people who have garages do not use them for vehicles. Not specific to EVs, but I see posts on Nextdoor about cars parked in driveways or on the street getting broken into. Anything not bolted down or out of sight is likely to get stolen now regardless of value.
I continue to not understand why people who have garages do not use them for vehicles. Not specific to EVs, but I see posts on Nextdoor about cars parked in driveways or on the street getting broken into. Anything not bolted down or out of sight is likely to get stolen now regardless of value.
I use my garages but I only have a two car garage and have three cars. Most people in my neighborhood have too much junk filling up their garage because up until recently our neighborhood couldn’t have sheds so there was a lack of storage.
ANYTHING that can get thrown in a box and sold on an auction sites is prime for theft.
Why else would someone steal a chord or jeans or anything they can grab.
It's for scrap or resale.
And, I always wonder when I'm looking for stuff to buy on the auction sites how much is actually stolen used merchandise and makes me sad to think about it.