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The electric vehicle charging industry is the latest crime against cars and cable thefts are said to be on the rise.
Experts warn that thieves are looking for copper from cables at fast and ultra-fast charging points, in a wave of crime that dates back to November.
Autocar says Instavolt, Britain’s largest operator of fast chargers, which uses Osprey Charging and BP Pulse, has had 174 cables stolen from 27 sites since then.
Instavolt, the UK’s largest fast charging provider, has reported that 174 electric vehicle charging cables have been stolen from 27 sites since November in the latest wave of car crime to hit the UK.
Nottinghamshire residents first flagged the issue of missing charging cables at The Malting Retail Park, Northgate and at Waitrose, Ossington Way in November, around seven months after four electric vehicle chargers from high powered Osprey at Northgate.
This type of charger has the cable connected to the charging point, which the electric vehicle owner connects to their car to charge it.
At the time, ZapMap showed that electric vehicle charging points on Albert Street and Appletongate, both owned by BP Pulse, were also offline.
An Osprey spokesperson confirmed that Osprey was “aware of coordinated vandalism targeting public charging sites in the Leeds, Newark, Rotherham and Derby areas” and said it was working with police and other operators to share CCTV.
The type of charging cable you are targeting comes connected to fast or ultra-fast chargers, which are typically found at highway service stations, retail parks, and large venues.
Instavolt has more than 1,500 active chargers across the UK, putting the 174 sites affected, as reported by Autocar, just below 12 (11.6). percent of the network.
Each cable cut costs charging providers between £700 and £1,000 – a costly problem – but Instavolt is more concerned about how it could affect public confidence.
Delvin Lane, CEO of Instavolt, told Autocar: “These thefts are extremely frustrating for our customers and us.
‘The electric vehicle revolution is already underway, with over a million electric vehicles on the road (in the UK).
“Our mission is to make electric vehicle charging as easy as possible, and reliability is one of our core values.”
The Government recently introduced a new reliability requirement requiring charging point operators that their network of fast charging points be operating on average for at least 99 per cent of each schedule.
Why are cables cut?
It appears that organized gangs of thieves are cutting up charging cables to strip and sell the copper wiring inside to illegal scrap dealers or on places like Facebook Marketplace and eBay.
In March, copper hit an 11-month high and prices rose to $9,164.50 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange.
The International Copper Study Group predicts that global copper demand will increase by 4.6 percent in 2024, due to the combination of demand from renewable energy systems and the expansion of the electric vehicle fleet with the limitations of the overall offer.
Thieves cut the cables to strip them and sell the copper wires to illegal scrap dealers or on Facebook Marketplace and eBay.
But while the price of copper may be tempting, the wiring isn’t worth as much as vandals imagine.
Lane told Autocar ‘the cable is not a solid copper bar, it is just pieces of thin wire that take a long time to extract. It is a mistake to think that copper generates real financial gains.’
A recent CBN News report looked at charging cable thefts in Canada and found that EV chargers only contain about $5 worth of copper metal, or about £3.93.
For the 174 Instavolt thefts reported, vandals made less than £700, which considering the effort it takes to cut and steal the cables (Lane says vandals will keep returning to the same site to strike again) isn’t much of a reward. .
BP Pulse has also been affected, as have Gridserve and Osprey. While there is no direct cost to EV drivers, “thefts only cause inconvenience to EV drivers, including those in emergency services, looking to charge their vehicles,” Lane says.
What devices are affected?
In 2022, This is Money reported that there had been a rise in cases of EV drivers having their charging cables pinched, at the same time there was a wave of catalytic converter thefts across the country.
Standard trickle charging AC cables were stolen from a wall box or public charging point, valued at around £200.
But the current wave of cable theft is affecting charging operators with fast and ultra-fast chargers typically found at motorway service stations and retail parks.
As of 1 April 2024, the Department for Transport and ZapMap confirmed that there are 61,232 EV charging devices across the UK – 22,924 of these are 50kW or larger chargers that thieves are currently targeting.
While there is no direct cost to EV drivers, “thefts only cause inconvenience to EV drivers (including those in emergency services) looking to charge their vehicles,” Lane says.
Cargo security improvements
Instavolt has introduced robust measures at its charging sites across the country to deter any further damage, including security patrols, installing additional CCTV cameras at each site and using Smartwarter tags on its cable to deter thieves and track devices.
Lane said: “We are taking this very seriously and are engaging with police at all levels.” We call on the industry to unite to use the full force of the law. We not only go after the thieves, but also the scrap dealers who handle this stolen product.
“We hope the devices will take us directly to the scrap dealers who handle the cables.”
Charge point providers have taken additional security measures, including installing more CCTV cameras, organizing security patrols and smartly tagging cables to track them.
Osprey also added additional CCTV and tagging security when its chargers were stolen in 2023.
A spokesperson confirmed at the time: ‘Osprey is enhancing its security measures at all sites in these regions, installing additional CCTV and tagging and marking cables so they can be traced by police.
“The team continues to work closely with police to support the monitoring and prevention of further vandalism at public EV charging sites in these areas.”
Gridserve has also been a victim of crime and a spokesperson confirmed to Autocar that it is studying “additional anti-theft measures”.
Instavolt says the industry “needs swift enforcement against criminals causing inconvenience to EV drivers”, while ChargeUK, the charger industry’s trade association, told Autocar it is working with the Ministry of the Interior and a new dedicated police unit to solve the problem.
This is Money has contacted Instavolt, Gridserve and BP Pulse for additional comment.
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