Read an article online earlier (which I can't find just now) that stated there was a dramatic rise in the theft of electric car charging cables.
Apparently although they are "locked" in place whilst charging, as with all items, the determined thief can get them off. And then sell them on.
Would be a bit of a pain coming back to your car, thinking it has been charging all day, to find that not only has it not been charging, but your only method of getting it charged has disappeared!
|
|
Stealing them from the charging point on people's houses you mean?
|
|
They do seem very expensive to buy from a manufacturer. I seem to remember Mitsubishi wanted £300 for a public charge cable which seemed excessive to me.
|
|
Think the article mentioned public chargers rather than home ones.
|
>> the determined thief can get them off. And then sell them on.
Or have a bonfire and melt all the insulation off, then sell the wire for scrap.
|
On mine the ridiculously loud car alarm sounds if you unplug it from the car while the car is locked. My neighbours would vouch for how loud it is!! :-)
The cables are not cheap but nor are they just a cable either. A manufacturer one will always be more expensive, just like any other car bits.
I would use the same cable on home and public charger (except I never have need to use use a public charger). My home charger is on the garage wall (inside) while the car is outside, so the cable goes under the garage door and would be hard to nick.
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 17 Mar 21 at 23:36
|
|
If they're copper then they're going to get nicked. And the thief won't mind wrecking them, or your car, in the process.
|
Typically ~£150 to buy a 5 metre cable.
Not as lucrative as stealing catalytic converters off Priuses apparently.
|
Cable thefts - not on the same scale as airbag thefts in the 1990s
www.nytimes.com/1998/05/05/nyregion/6-arrests-are-said-to-smash-theft-ring-for-car-air-bags.html
Problem solved by serial numbering the airbags and tying them to the vehicle serial number.
|
Tea leaves are quite happy to nick railway overhead cables - while live with 2kv ac, and trains are running past. Your charging cable is a doddle.
As with Catalytic Converter thefts. they do seem to be model specific targets, dont know why.
|
Slight thread drift, but I was talking to a friend who has just got a Tesla Model 3, and some of his answers makes me doubt if UK plc car fleet can ever go nearly all EV as Boris would like.
For example, in order to maintain the battery charge and condition, he is told to keep it plugged in all the time ('tethered') when it is parked. If he parks it at an airport for a 2 week holiday (some chance at the moment!) he will come back to a severely depleted battery and the first thing on leaving Heathrow/Gatwick will be to find a charger. Is this the case with all EVs?
In other words, rather than just having x number of chargers, won't there need to be almost 1 charger for every EV so that every time an EV is parked up it is plugged in having it's battery conditioned and ready to use whenever the owner wants? With a block of, say 30 flats with maybe 3 chargers, if three owners are plugged in all the time to condition their batteries, how are the other flat owners supposed to charge up unless there is almost 1 charger per flat? With an ICE, we fill it up with fuel and that full tank is ready to use whenever - we don't need to keep the fuel hose in the car whilst we are not using it.
Is this the case with all EVs? Genuine question.
|
All batteries lose a small amount of charge when parked up, and an EV is no different. Some ancilliaries will anyway absorb power - eg: security, vehicle management, internet etc.
But it is a nonsense to suggest that an owner after a two week stay in an airport carpark will come back to a "dead" car. Normal car batteries remain charged for months unless aged and close to being defective.
If Tesla have invented and fitted batteries which go flat after a few weeks this is a likely commercial embarrasment.
Just more anti-EV rumour mongering!
|
>> Just more anti-EV rumour mongering!
>>
Apparently that's what it says in his owner's manual (which I'm sure is on-line rather than printed...). I just wondered if this was just a Tesla thing or applied to all EVs?
|
In fact I just checked the Model 3 handbook. It says "The most important way to preserve the Battery is to LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE PLUGGED IN when you're not using it." (their caps, not mine).
It goes on to say that if you discharge the battery to 0% components may be damaged and require replacement. It also says that the battery discharges at about 1% per day, and that if you are going to leave the car unused for 2 weeks e.g. at an airport, you should ensure there is at least 14% charge before leaving it. Does this apply to all EVs?
So coming back to my original point, EVs are not like an ICE car that you can fill up and leave almost anywhere until you next want to use it, and infrequent users will need to keep their cars plugged in. The line I have heard is that most users will charge at home rather than using public chargers, but in the light of Tesla's instructions it looks like there will need to be rather more public on-street chargers for those who don't have off-street parking.
I am not anti-EV but would want to know the whole picture before making the decision.
|
When we had the Zoe, now old tech from 2013, we had to leave it once for a fortnight. I did worry what the battery would be like afterwards. I don't recall the exact numbers but it was something like it dropped from 70% to 60% in that time.
We were talking EVs this morning. I must be one of those rare people who had an EV but went back to ICE and don't really want to go back to EV at present.
|
If Tesla batteries discharge at 1% per week and should not be fully discharged then you could leave it for around 85 weeks. I suspect that there is a + or - error bar around this.
Most of us don't go on holidays for over a year and a half at the time - if one did it would probably be called emigrating.
And a conventional ICE would be unlikely to start after so long a wait in an airport car park - so no great differene there!
|
I see a gap for an airport charging service.
I've asked for provision in our new house (e.g at the distribution board) for 2 car charging points, one in the garage and one outside. I'm think the one inside might not be a good idea, as the garage is integral to the house. The idea that half a ton of lithium batteries might decide to combust while charging might keep me awake.
Our Outlander is 4 years old, the Roomster coming up 7. I'm not minded to change either unless I have to, so we might never have an electric car.
|
Charging cables - sooty123
