A frustrated Tesla owner has shared photos of damaged electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lot of an Ohio grocery store.
The person posted images in the r/teslamotors subreddit showing the severed cables and a repair truck that had arrived to fix the problem.
"Someone keeps cutting the SC Cables at the [Cincinnati] Meijer," they wrote. "Tech showed up while I was there and said it happened the day before as well. Camera only can see last 4, which are never cut."
Meijer is just one store that has worked to expand its EV charging options. Target, Walmart, Kroger, and Ikea are others, and it's a sign of the times: More than 1 in 5 vehicles purchased this year will be electric.
While the proliferation of charging stations is good news, there is more work to be done. It has become clear that these chargers, which feature thick copper wires inside insulated cables, will continue to be targeted by thieves.
The Biden-Harris administration has said there will be 200,000 chargers available to drivers by the end of the year, but the rollout has been slow.
Ride-hailing company Uber is offering drivers up to $22,000 to buy EVs as we work to decarbonize the transportation sector.
Internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) are powered by gasoline, a source of dirty energy that pollutes the environment, harms our health, and costs more money than electricity. In one year of use, an ICEV releases 2 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), while an EV releases zero, according to Recurrent.
Critics trumpet the outsize pollution that comes with manufacturing an EV — especially the battery — but EVs are still much better for the environment, our well-being, and our wallets than ICEVs over the vehicles' lifetimes.
Despite contributing 14 tCO2e during production — compared to 10 tCO2e for an ICEV — and 26 tCO2e for charging from the grid (which is mostly still powered by gas, coal, and oil), an EV's pollution output is 39 tCO2e over 16 years. On the other hand, an ICEV's tCO2e is 55, more than 58% of which comes from tailpipe pollution.
Thankfully, it seems there's a simple way to prevent EV charging stations from being destroyed.
"Gee if only we had the technology to place multiple cameras to protect expensive charging stations...oh wait," one commenter said.
Another user wrote: "Copper thieves are the f****** worst. I knew someone working on construction for a church, and some f****** kept stealing the pipes. Eventually they installed 24/7 IP cameras and they called the cops on that idiot after someone caught him doing it live."
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