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Charging Cable Stolen While Charging
- Thread starter Ben W
- Start date
Ah, yes, maybe. Other people in the neighborhood have shared burglary footage that looks quite similar to this person, so it doesn't seem like it's just a Tesla owner looking for a cable. Also possible that somehow the car was locked but the charge port wasn't, so they weren't able to get into the car but were still able to steal the cable. (There was nothing valuable in the car anyway.)
I did invest in the NEMA 14-50 outlet, $700 or so for everything. A full HPWC installation would have been quite a bit more involved and expensive.
I was going to say that what you can do is remove the HPWC when you are done with it, but that sort of defeats the purpose.
How about installing this locking box to the house? It will screw in from the inside, so the screws cannot be removed without busting the lock.
Mount the box on its side, hinge up, break out the side holes and make a bottom hole for drainage. On one side, enter a short extension cord (proper gauge) and the other side you can expand the hole a bit so that the connector and cable can go through, but not the unit.
Note: Lock sold separately
https://www.amazon.com/BUD-Industries-JBH-4956-KO-Knockout-Hinged/dp/B005UP9YYI
How to cut a steel box:
Short version: hacksaw is cheapest, next step up is sawzall
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Spacep0d
Active Member
Counterpoint, consider too that many or most petty thieves are lazy opportunists. If a thief can make off with the low-hanging fruit of an unsecured charger, then this is easy money for them. Breaking windows and rifling through a car is what many thieves do, but there's cost and risk to this move as well and Sentry-mode is something that thieves might be aware of. Break-in noise, especially on a Tesla, is going to start a few timers in the thief's head. It's higher stakes and higher risk. The thief may also understand that there's nothing in the car to steal if they took a peek in through the windows first.
To observers, someone taking off a charger with no other ruckus could be seen as legit compared to someone breaking a window or rifling through a car with busted windows and glass everywhere, not to mention the secret (or not) alarms that might trigger an angry owner with untold means of defense and/or police involvement.
Finally, if caught, stealing a charger carries less penalty (no damage to car) than a full smash and grab. This might weigh into a thief's cost/benefit calculus as well. But really, it probably comes down to what is easiest and most profitable, with the least risk.
California is not prosecuting auto burglary. They burglarized both my kid's cars near colleges, and neither were investigated, even though there was video. California now considers it a matter between the car owner and their insurance company. SF now has perhaps the highest burglary rate in the US, not counting the ones the police don't take reports on.
Home security cameras are inexpensive these days. Matched with motion detection lighting they can deter some thieves.
Both need to be out of easy reach when mounting them. Needing a ladder will slow them down. Even something as simple as a ring door bell if it covers someone walking up to the parking area might be useful and can work as a second camera option.
An activated Sentry Mode is a must for outdoor parking. Getting the license plate number of the thief would make it easy for the insurance company to go after reimbursement and might force police to prosecute.
You have to make it easy for them.
Both need to be out of easy reach when mounting them. Needing a ladder will slow them down. Even something as simple as a ring door bell if it covers someone walking up to the parking area might be useful and can work as a second camera option.
An activated Sentry Mode is a must for outdoor parking. Getting the license plate number of the thief would make it easy for the insurance company to go after reimbursement and might force police to prosecute.
You have to make it easy for them.
Spacep0d
Active Member
As a fellow California who has had cars stolen and/or broken in to, I do feel your pain. At the place I was at previously, my brand new model, two-week-old 2002 Civic Si was broken in to (A pillar destroyed, costing months of repair and thousands of dollars) and its seats were stolen (Recaro stock seats). That feeling of rage and in security never left me and I made it my top priority to buy a home with a secure garage—no matter who was signing my paychecks. That decision has paid off, even when it meant having to rent a place near a job because it was way too far away.
I won't bash San Fran too much, but a company would have to throw buckets of money to get me to live there, especially considering real-estate prices, home shortages, and the fact that I chose to buy a home already in Santa Clarita at a reasonable price. There's no reason for a smart, forward-thinking company not to hire someone as a remote worker (with full benefits) if they trust them, want their skillset, understand the ubiquity of high-bandwidth connections, and the software which makes it all come together (Teams, Slack, Skype, Zoom, etc.). Sure, the competition might be willing to move, but seasoned veterans are going to be more established in all areas.
I'm just glad to be working from home now. My bro works in tech too and has been working from home for some 15 years+ now. For a while he wasn't even in the same state as the company that signs his checks.
If you want to be fancy, something like this -
https://www.amazon.com/BMZX-Organizer-Distribution-Connector-Protective/dp/B07SPR2GND
Put it next to the outlet, or cut a hole in the back and put it over the outlet.
https://www.amazon.com/BMZX-Organizer-Distribution-Connector-Protective/dp/B07SPR2GND
Put it next to the outlet, or cut a hole in the back and put it over the outlet.
My high-tech solution for now. (Thanks jsmay311!) It's not Kryptonite, but hopefully a reasonable deterrent, and also hopefully the charging port will remain locked next time as well!
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If thieves are walking around with equipment to steal wheels, they're probably going to be stealing wheels and not charging cables. (The set of wheels is considerably more valuable than the charging cable.) Stealing both the charging cable and the wheel would probably cross the value threshold from a misdemeanor to a felony. And opportunistic walk-by thieves like the one who stole my cable wouldn't have the tools handy to remove a wheel. In any case, I don't have anything else conveniently nearby to secure the cable to; I think this is better than leaving the cable freely stealable.
... from earlier posts, seems camera and motion detector is way less than an ounce.
Mine just got stolen last night
got a notification for charging interrupted, immediately went to the deck to check on the car and Charger was gone. I called 911 and they had caught the guy because somebody had called the police as he was carrying a bunch of stuff. Got the charger back but I don’t know how he was able to remove it from the car and if there’s any damage to the port or charger, both work and look fine.
the car was 100% locked.
got a notification for charging interrupted, immediately went to the deck to check on the car and Charger was gone. I called 911 and they had caught the guy because somebody had called the police as he was carrying a bunch of stuff. Got the charger back but I don’t know how he was able to remove it from the car and if there’s any damage to the port or charger, both work and look fine.
the car was 100% locked.
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Was the car actively charging at the time?Mine just got stolen last night
got a notification for charging interrupted, immediately went to the deck to check on the car and Charger was gone. I called 911 and they had caught the guy because somebody had called the police as he was carrying a bunch of stuff. Got the charger back but I don’t know how he was able to remove it from the car and if there’s any damage to the port or charger, both work and look fine.
the car was 100% locked.
What was the outside temp?
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