Thieves Are Tearing Apart $4,000 EV Charger lines for $3 in copper

Josh Beckler of California wad driving his EV on Mother’s Day when he swung into a Vallejo Target to top off his battery and got a nasty surprise. Most of the DC fast chargers had been torn apart, their charging cables ripped off and gone. Beckler, who happens to be a retired theft investigator for a hardware store chain, knew exactly what the thieves were after: copper wire.

He explained, “It most likely happened in the night, and we found it early morning.” The thieves had dismantled nine Tesla Superchargers installed behind the box store. Surprisingly, they left some stations untouched.

Beckler added, “You know, they left five charging stations. I’m pretty sure after they racked up, I don’t know what the quantity was, but almost 20 cables with the nozzles. Those are extremely heavy, so I’m imagining that’s all they could haul at one given time.”