Posted on 05/13/2024 4:20:43 PM PDT by lowbridge
Bay Area dog trainer Josh Beckler stumbled upon an unusual sight last Sunday on his way to the gym. As he pulled his Tesla into the parking lot of a Target complex in Vallejo, he noticed the row of supercharging stations had been vandalized.
Taking out his phone, he recorded a video as he walked down the row of 20 stations, highlighting that every charging cable that connects power to the electric vehicles had been cut.
“You would think that it’s a protest or some symbol of activism,” Beckler said with a chuckle in the video. “But it’s not. It’s the Bay Area.” Pausing to display the end of a severed cord, he speculated, “These things have a little copper in them. They’re recycling them and cashing in.”
By the time Beckler finished his workout, he said he found yellow tape surrounding the charging stations and Target security personnel were investigating the scene. The Vallejo Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for more information about the apparent vandalism.
-snip
Beckler told the Chronicle that he wasn’t surprised by the discovery. With 17 years of experience as an investigator for Home Depot, Beckler regularly pursued thieves who stripped copper from the store’s generators.
“If it were a protest, they wouldn’t have taken the cords because they’re extremely heavy,” he said. “They hauled about 250 pounds of hose. There’s also a small control box on the stations, and they took those too.”
(Excerpt) Read more at sfchronicle.com ...
We haven’t seen anything yet.
Wait til the evil ones decide to torch and set forests and fields on fire. The worst is yet to come.
I’m willing to help pay for the perp’s defense, assuming they catch the guy, of course.
“Does The Vallejo Police Department have their officers driving EVs and that is why they did not immediately respond?”
Likely need to charge-up their EVs before going out on a call.
“You would think that it’s a protest or some symbol of activism,” Beckler said with a chuckle in the video. “But it’s not. It’s the Bay Area.” Pausing to display the end of a severed cord, he speculated, “These things have a little copper in them. They’re recycling them and cashing in.”
Interesting thought. That hadn’t occurred to me. I guess you have a more diabolical mind than me!
I bet this was gangs of illegals though, of course, we will never be told that.
Doesn’t matter, they’d sabotage the plug anyway, “Just Because”.
Way less attractive and a hell of a lot cheaper and faster to fix, though.
“Musk may be sorry he fired the entire charger team.”
Why? Did the Charger Team moonlight as site security by night?
Agreed. The same ones steal from construction sites.
Very stupid design, the cord should be with the vehicle.
Then you have an outlet at the charger. It could still be vandalized but rubber jacketed copper wire is a crooks dream.
“Very stupid design, the cord should be with the vehicle”
It’s a lose, lose situation. How many electric owners, especially women will want to drag out a 10-15 pound charging cord from the trunk / Frunck and then put it away when done? None starter.
Copper Clean wire braid $2.50/lb
The cable wire could be of a unique shape.
Possession of such unique shaped wires by persons not authorized by Tesla could be made a federal felony.
Aluminum could be used instead. Aluminum is less efficient than copper, but superchargers without cables are 100% inefficient.
Sorry, I can only pay you 50 cents a pound for scrap copper.
I have to pay the balance to the police department.
Like the retractable vacuum cleaner cords.
California should hire Antifa or the homeless for guards. Or maybe rent some Palestinians to guard the magic hoses. Each super battery charging station could have small tent cities of these guys. And while they wait for their electrical appliances to be charged up, the homeless could serve them refreshments.
Yep. Except the cord will just a bit thicker!
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