Stolen EV cables

Green curly cable from evcables

EV Cable Shop has written a guide to protecting your electric cables from theft click here

Would you leave bicycle in a public place without a lock? No? So why would you leave an expensive item like an electric charging cable exposed in a public car park unprotected?

Debbie Gillespie from accessory specialist EV Cable Shop alerted me to the surprising fact that electric car cables are not locked to the car. A trawl through some forums turned up a number of stories about people who’d had their cables stolen, including one poor man who’d then been fined £70 for using an electric charging spot without charging. People can sell them, them use them, or they could just sell the metal for scrap.

A standard locking mechanism is surely on the way  – pertol or diesel vehicle has a locking filler cap these days, not only to prevent syphoning fuel but also because towrags used to pinch the caps. In the meantime EV owners  are using padlocks – and bike locks to protect their cables. One chap on a forum always parks with one wheel on the cable.

Debbie tells me other reasons for buying a replacement cable are that cables can be damaged (I wonder what being parked on does for a cable?) and people drive off while they are still plugged in. (I would do that.) Some people buy a spare cable just in case of the above.

And whatever the niche, an accessory industry bursts into flower around it.  Take bikes – all the helmets, lycra and carrying devices, or camping – folding everything from beds to saucepans. If the Once-Ler created a thneed these days in the land of the Lorax, someone would have made a neat carrying case for it.

So it is with EV cables, you can now buy not only plain old replacement cables either from your dealer or an accessory specialist (possibly at a lower price) but also extension cables, different coloured cables, curly cables (ideal for keeping cables off the ground says evcables.co.uk, pictured) and yes, cute carrying cases.
There are also myriad charging stations, boosters  and other bits of hardware to make home charging convenient and efficient.

We’re heading for a new world where you have to work out number of phases the voltage and amperage of your power connector, at least you get to chose the colour of your cable.