Charging Cord vandalism. (warning to all EV car owners)

[RikiTiki]

The leaf should have a little lock on the charging port door that once you plug in the car can be locked to prevent random passers by from unplugging the cord from the car or tampering with your plug when at public chargers.

Also..

The public charging stations should have a door that works like newspaper vendor machines that locks the complete cord in a lock box like container with a clear lexan/plexiglass type window on the door that allows you to see if someone cut the cord or stole the cord before you swipe your card to open it. This is going to happen soon once the chargers become more common and the vandals & poor recyclers realize how much copper is in the cords and start cutting them to sell the copper. Not to mention jealous gas station owners. =P The newspaper vendor machine style doors that only open once you swipe your credit card or some kind of authentication method to have access to the cords and plugs then only closes the transaction only once the door is closed to help keep people respectful of the cords. (cord safe in the box). =)

Please repost this on other Nissan & electirc car forums and advise charger companys of the coming problems and solutions stated above.

signed,
RikiTiki (Nissan Leaf fan! I cant wait to buy my Leaf.)

 

[sdbonez]

The leaf should have a little lock on the charging port door that once you plug in the car can be locked to prevent random passers by from unplugging the cord from the car or tampering with your plug when at public chargers.

Also..

The public charging stations should have a door that works like newspaper vendor machines that locks the complete cord in a lock box like container with a clear lexan/plexiglass type window on the door that allows you to see if someone cut the cord or stole the cord before you swipe your card to open it. This is going to happen soon once the chargers become more common and the vandals & poor recyclers realize how much copper is in the cords and start cutting them to sell the copper. Not to mention jealous gas station owners. =P The newspaper vendor machine style doors that only open once you swipe your credit card or some time of authentication method to have access to the cords and plugs then only closes the transaction only once the door is closed to help keep people respectful of the cords. (cord safe in the box). =)

Please repost this on other Nissan & electirc car forums and advise charger companys of the coming problems and solutions stated above.

signed,
RikiTiki (Nissan Leaf fan! I cant wait to buy my Leaf.)

Page CH-13 (Charging) in the Leaf manual describes being able to attach a padlock to 'position A' (part of the button on the charge connector) to "prevent theft". So, it's not on the door..but on the charging connector (well, the 110V one anyway). I haven't personally tried it yet.

My personal opinion of the rest of your comments is that you're paranoid...but then again, people did just steal front yard bronze statues from a neighborhood close to mine so who knows...

 

[EVDRIVER]

Both of these things can be done now, most charging stations have locking docks.

 

[DarkStar]

It's not good practice to double-post:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=79030#p79030

However my response is the same:

The leaf should have a little lock on the door that once you plug in the car can be locked to prevent random passers by from unplugging the cord from the car or tampering with your plug.

Hi RikiTiki,

There is a hole on the level 1 EVSE cable included with the Leaf to allow locking the cable to your vehicle. I've been using a small combination lock to secure it and seems to be working extremely well.

The public charging stations should have a door that works like newspaper vendor machines that locks the complete cord in a lock box like container with a clear lexan/plexiglass type window on the door that allows you to see if someone cut the cord or stole the cord before you swipe your card to open it. This is going to happen soon once the chargers become more common and the vandals & poor recyclers realize how much copper is in the cords and start cutting them to sell the copper. Not to mention jealous gas station owners. =P The newspaper vendor machine style doors that only open once you swipe your credit card or some time of authentication method to have access to the cords and plugs then only closes the transaction only once the door is closed to help keep people respectful of the cords. (cord safe in the box). =)

If you look at the Coulomb charging stations, the J1772 cable is exterior to the unit, however you can plug a cable into the 120 volt socket and the door does lock onto the cable to prevent it's removal. Shorepower also has J1772 charging stations and the cable is still exterior to the unit so you can still check before swiping your car to charge.

 

[RikiTiki]

It's not good practice to double-post:

This important idea deserved its own thread so its not a true double post. Thanks tho.

Because as vandals catch on cord theft and vandalism will become more and more common. To the point of ruining family trips to the area MEGA mall so that you arrive only to find out the chargers there no longer have cords or have vandalized plugs that no longer plug into your car unless some steps are taken now while standards are still in their infant stage to protect the cables and plugs. In America especially, Since random passers by are not as respectful as in japan sadly. =)

I mean come on they steal tire flling Air-hose ends from gas stations, so they are guaranteed to cut & steal the heavy duty copper wires off chargers even more so.

sincerely,
RikiTiki
(Nissan Leaf Fan!)

 

[palmermd]

This is not really a big concern. Of course I don't want to see the charging cords or charge stations vandalized, and I'm sure that someone will do it, but in the big picture with the way this car is setup, it is not really a problem. We only have a 3.3kW charger, so opportunity charging at the Mall is not really all that significant, unless you work there. My longest trips to the Mall are about 2 hours. Were just not going to get that much charge in two hours. Now there are probably a few people who live at a perfect distance and are going to say that that extra 6kWh is going to make all the difference in the world, but most of us it is not going to matter. I've been driving electric for 15 years and can count on my hand how many times I've used public chargers (and for those trips I needed it). I can say that it would have really made a bad day for me if they were vandalized when I got there, but they seem to be fine then and even now after being installed for at least 10 years (of course now there are not many cars that can connect to them but the cord and charge station are still there). Vandalizing charge stations does not seem to be a big problem in the real world.

 

[tps]

If you look at the Coulomb charging stations, the J1772 cable is exterior to the unit, however you can plug a cable into the 120 volt socket and the door does lock onto the cable to prevent it's removal. Shorepower also has J1772 charging stations and the cable is still exterior to the unit so you can still check before swiping your car to charge.

It will certainly be interesting to see how the charging stations used by the Hertz rental LEAF in NYC fare. I'd think downtown NYC would be a problem, but the Columb charge points are out in the open. It will be interesting to see how they last.

 

[takoyaki]

Both of these things can be done now, most charging stations have locking docks.

Japanese LEAFs have option to get a lock/tamper cover on the charge port.
Not sure why they don't offer it in US? I'd think we'd need it here more than there...

 

[evnow]

RikiTiki, I suggest changing the title to indicate that this is a suggestion to prevent vandalism - not report of one.

 

[uwskier20]

I plan to charge either in my garage or the secured parking garage at work.

My understanding is that if somebody unplugs me, I will get an e-mail from Carwings, promptly become annoyed, go reconnect my car and return to my normal life.

My only concern would be public charging with my own L1 EVSE. I might consider padlocking that, since $500 is a considerable chunk of change should it be stolen. But I doubt I would do that in public too often. I think the airport parking garage is the only L1 public charging I am aware of, where my EVSE might be truly exposed to hooligans (traveling hooligans, at that).

 

[adric22]

I guess that raises the obvious question. In California they have had charging stations around for over 10 years in areas back from the days of the EV-1. I realize they are not the same stations as we will be using but the question remains. Have there been any reports of those being vandalized?

 

[eMaS]

Unfortunately public chargers will be vandalized at some locations.
we lost 4 at once in Woodland
http://www.evchargernews.com/regions/95776_1.htm
have attached an image with cut-off cord stumps -

 

[Jimmydreams]

Unfortunately public chargers will be vandalized at some locations.
we lost 4 at once in Woodland
http://www.evchargernews.com/regions/95776_1.htm
have attached an image with cut-off cord stumps -

That bites.

But I wonder about usage.....as EV's become more prolific, vandals will have to worry more and more about someone driving up on them while they commit their mayhem. These punks generally don't like being seen and look for out-of-the-way and little-used locations as cover. Perhaps through increased usage we will reduce the numbers of vandalism reports.

Just a thought.

 

[Smidge204]

Maybe the solution is to keep the cables energized so the punks get a little surprise when they try to cut through it :twisted: Though I'm sure someone will offer steel-braided cables. SOMEONE will buy them if vandalism if rampant enough.

Although a more interesting thought: Was this simple vandalism or someone stealing the copper?
=Smidge=

 

[Ingineer]

Copper is getting ever-more expensive, and even if it hasn't been a problem in the last 10 years, I suspect this will become a bigger problem in the future.

If I were designing a public charge station, I'd use a steel housing with a retractable cord reel that has a locking solenoid. Once you authorize the unit with a credit card, (even if it's free), the solenoid releases the reel lock ratchet. It then reverses the ratchet action so there is no spring return tension on the cord when you let go after pulling it out. However, once you disconnect, the solenoid would then reverse the ratchet so the reel would attempt to pull the cable in, and once in, will not pull out until authorized again.

The J-connector could be setup to slide into a hole so no cable is exposed once the cable is fully retracted.

The low-cost version is a simple cabinet that has a hook in it for the cable. The cabinet is released the same way as above. You could charge a deposit on the credit card to ensure people return the cable to the cabinet and shut the door.

-Phil

 

[Jimmydreams]

Why not have the cars come with a cord that has an L2 male/female ends? Female end goes in the front of your Leaf, male end plugs into the charger. Bingo, no cord to steal unless the break into your car.

 

[davewill]

Why not have the cars come with a cord that has an L2 male/female ends? Female end goes in the front of your Leaf, male end plugs into the charger. Bingo, no cord to steal unless the break into your car.

Or take it while you're charging...leaving you with no way to charge...anywhere.

 

[KeiJidosha]

Why not have the cars come with a cord that has an L2 male/female ends? Female end goes in the front of your Leaf, male end plugs into the charger. Bingo, no cord to steal unless the break into your car.

Or take it while you're charging...leaving you with no way to charge...anywhere.

This is similar to Euro cable which locks to your car. When I have visited legacy chargers the most frequent problem is a damaged connector. Usually not vandalism, mostly chipped or cracked from handling. Less likely a problem with J1772 connector, but bringing your own cable would eliminate a charge site status unknown.

Reality? The J1772 standard is already in the books.

 

[garygid]

Apparently the Standards Committee, in their great wisdom,
did not consider theft and vandalism to be significant issues.

 

[Randy]

C'mon guys, ECOtality has this covered!!! Thieves will take one look at this, and look for something better to steal or mess with :lol: