Path: ...!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: moviePig Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv Subject: Re: Yet Another Reason EVs are a Bad Choice Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2024 17:50:17 -0400 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 106 Message-ID: References: <_NGdnQo7bcjKpvf7nZ2dnZfqn_SdnZ2d@giganews.com> Reply-To: nobody@nowhere.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2024 23:50:17 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="3a44ad40fff10d834b69ec0ce336e054"; logging-data="2600417"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+EIfQoianpNT2pwMbrul7HB6D3lV1HSiY=" User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird Cancel-Lock: sha1:X+FnxphbOyHy+9qBP5nebY8Y6Ug= Content-Language: en-US In-Reply-To: Bytes: 6662 On 6/13/2024 5:00 PM, BTR1701 wrote: > On Jun 13, 2024 at 12:28:41 PM PDT, "moviePig" wrote: > >> On 6/12/2024 8:20 PM, BTR1701 wrote: >>> I've noticed that several of the EV charging stations at my local mall seem >>> to >>> have the cables ripped out. (There are also huge swaths of L.A. that are now >>> dark at night because thieves have ripped apart streetlights to steal the >>> copper inside.) So now even if you happen to find one of the rare chargers >>> that can 'fuel-up' your EV, you're likely to find it useless due to >>> thievery. >>> >>> ---------------------------------- >>> DETROIT (AP) — Just before 2AM on a chilly April night in Seattle, a >>> Chevrolet >>> Silverado pickup stopped at an electric vehicle charging station on the edge >>> of a shopping center parking lot. Two men, one with a light strapped to his >>> head, got out. A security camera recorded them pulling out bolt cutters. One >>> man snipped several charging cables; the other loaded them into the truck. >>> In >>> under 2½ minutes, they were gone. >>> >>> The scene that night has become part of a troubling pattern across the >>> country: Thieves have been targeting EV charging stations, intent on >>> stealing >>> the cables, which contain copper wiring. The price of copper is near a >>> record >>> high on global markets, which means criminals stand to collect rising sums >>> of >>> cash from selling the material. >>> >>> The stolen cables often disable entire stations, forcing EV owners on the >>> road >>> to search desperately for a working charger. For the owners, the predicament >>> can be exasperating and stressful. >>> >>> Broken-down chargers have emerged as the latest obstacle for U.S. automakers >>> in their strenuous effort to convert more Americans to EVs despite >>> widespread >>> public anxiety about a scarcity of charging stations. About 4 in 10 U.S. >>> adults say they believe EVs take too long to charge or don't know of any >>> charging stations nearby. >>> >>> If even finding a charging station doesn't necessarily mean finding >>> functioning cables, it becomes one more reason for skeptical buyers to stick >>> with traditional gasoline-fueled or hybrid vehicles, at least for now. >>> >>> Two years ago, according to Electrify America, which runs the nation’s >>> second-largest network of direct-current fast chargers, a cable might be cut >>> perhaps every six months at one of its 968 charging stations, with 4,400 >>> plugs >>> nationwide. Through May this year, the figure reached 129-- four more than >>> in >>> all of 2023. At one Seattle station, cables were cut six times in the past >>> year, said Anthony Lambkin, Electrify America's vice president of >>> operations. >>> >>> "We're enabling people to get to work, to take their kids to school, get to >>> medical appointments," Lambkin said. "So to have an entire station that's >>> offline is pretty impactful to our customers." >>> >>> Until a month ago, police in Houston knew of no cable thefts. Then one was >>> stolen from a charger at a gas station. The city has now recorded eight or >>> nine such thefts, said Sgt. Robert Carson, who leads a police metal-theft >>> unit. >>> >>> In one case, thieves swiped 18 of 19 cords at a Tesla station. That day, >>> Carson visited the station to inspect the damage. In the first five minutes >>> that he was there, Carson said, about 10 EVs that needed charging had to be >>> turned away. In very large cities like Houston, charging stations typically >>> contain an especially large number of plugs and cables, so thefts can be >>> particularly damaging. "They're not just taking one," Carson said. "When >>> they're hit, they're hit pretty hard." >>> >>> The charging companies say it’s become clear that the thieves are after the >>> copper that the cables contain. In late May, copper hit a record high of >>> nearly $5.20 a pound, a result, in part, of rising demand resulting from >>> efforts to cut carbon emissions with EVs that use more copper wiring. The >>> price is up about 25% from a year ago, and many analysts envision further >>> increases. >>> >>> Charging companies say there isn’t actually very much copper in the cables, >>> and what copper is there is difficult to extract. Carson estimates that >>> criminals can get $15 to $20 per cable at a scrap yard. "They're not making >>> a >>> significant amount of money," he said. "They're not going to be sailing on a >>> yacht anywhere." >>> >>> Still, the more cables the thieves can steal, the more they can cash in. At >>> $20 a cable, 20 stolen cables could fetch $400. >>> >>> The problem for the charging companies is that it’s much costlier to replace >>> cables. In Minneapolis, where cables have been clipped at city-owned >>> charging >>> stations, it costs about $1,000 to replace just one cable, said Joe Laurin, >>> project manager in the Department of Public Works. >> >> Sounds like you'd want to strongly discourage this particular theft... > > If you're going to strongly discourage theft-- instead of, you know, > incentivizing it like they do in California-- why not strongly discourage > *all* theft? For humans, incentivizing is a zero-sum game.