A strange way to vandalize my Tesla equipment

[Chisale]

So here's an odd one in the realm of Tesla vandalizations. Somebody decided to pour an entire bottle of sweetened soda all over my Tesla wall charger in the middle of the night. That was a real mess to clean up this morning. There was no long term damage done. Luckily they didn't pour any any down inside the plug or that would have been a real mess to clean up. They may have avoided that because they didn't know the plug is not energized until it's plugged into the car. Although if someone is dumb enough to pour liquid over a 50A electrical appliance they might also be too dumb to figure out how to unhook the plug off the hook. Not a big deal; just curious if anybody has had anything like that happen. They didn't do anything to the car as far as I can tell.
Unfortunately, I don't have any video as I had set my Sentry set to off at Home. That's a mistake I won't make again.

 

[Chisale]

Incidentally. If it's not clear from the post. The car was not plugged in at the time.

 

[jkoya]

Sorry to hear that happened to you..... Are you going to build an enclosure or something to protect your HPWC now ?

 

[SSonnentag]

Time to install a camera.

 

[SMAlset]

And I thought the video I just saw of the old jerk who poured his drink on someone's Model 3 (which recorded it) was a pretty low point. Now a charging source being vandalized. Lots of low-life scum out there.

 

[Chisale]

Sorry to hear that happened to you..... Are you going to build an enclosure or something to protect your HPWC now ?

Probably just leave Sentry on plus more outdoor lighting and hope it's isolated incident. But may have to if not.

 

[Watts_Up]

So here's an odd one in the realm of Tesla vandalizations.
Somebody decided to pour an entire bottle of sweetened soda all over my Tesla wall charger in the middle of the night.

May be you should give a little bit more detail information about the location or put a picture of the charger.

- I guess is it a public garage, like inside a building? (not a street parking)

So who can access this area?
Can this person be another tenant?
Is your charger noticeable from outside and there is no gate to enter into the parking lot?

If this place is protected by a gate from strangers coming from the street,
you should make a writing complaint for vandalism to the landlord, to show your concern.

And even make a police report if there is a website page for non emergency situation.
Spraying an electrical box can be an hazard, so this should be reported.
​

- Is your wall charger cable and plug just hanging when you are not parked?

So anyone could park and use your charger?​

I have a public garage and my plug and the mobile charger, that I got with the car, are enclosed into a lockable box.
So nothing can be stollen or prevent someone playing with it. However I made it available in PlugShare with my phone number.

Note: I noticed few tenants having a Toyota Prime Plug-In Hybrid Prius, but they don't install a plug.
I guess, they get the car only for the carpool access.

Note: Additional question. Does the person left the bottle on the floor, like most people would do?
Or do you think this person kept the empty bottle and put in in the trash or a recycling bin?

Final comment: May be you should also put a warning label on your charger.

 

[Chisale]

It's just in a residential area, attached to the side of the house and with no fencing. Anybody can walk up and mess with the car or charger. You can sort of see my parking area in the profile picture. If it persists then I might have to put a box around it but I hope it's just an isolated incident and won't be necessary. Plug in cars are very rare around here so I'm not all that worried about somebody sneaking in and using electricity and if they did then it would not be a big deal to me. That is an interesting comment about you seeing people with PHEVs and not having any kind of charger available to them. If you're in an area with special carpool/EV lanes then I bet that is indeed the reason. Finally, that sign is indeed a very good idea. Maybe a photo attached to the wall as well of what your body would look like if you got shocked with 10kW in a well grounded situation. Aka, a hand or foot completely blown off.

 

[Watts_Up]

If you live in a residential area with your own driveway, this seems to be an isolated case.
When I was a teenager I certainly did some stupid similar pranks.
May be you could put a discrete "Private Property", "No Trepassing", or "Home Security System" .... below your mail box post.

I live in an area mixt with separate houses and small buildings near a train station.
There is a front gate with card access, but there is a 6ft fence on the back.
There has been cases of car windows broken in the garage.
All the vandalism stopped since a neighbour got a dog!.