LOL one of the downsides of this car is that it is not made with the idea of rain in mind. Nice that you Californians get to experience this from time to time. I've been dealing with issues like this ever since I got the car in September, but fortunately we are now headed to a dry season (eventually) in Seattle.
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Multiple CA Supercharger locations down in past 5 months: breakdowns, vandalism, or theft?
- Thread starter ecarfan
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- California Supercharging USA
Ulmo
Active Member
Indeed.
While filling up at a Chademo in some awful parking lot a month or so ago, I was daydreaming about installing chargers in every single spot in a mall parking lot. My approach was to figure out the "ideal" system, then whittle away at the costs. I didn't get far in the daydream, but one of the first things I designed in it was a simple trench, in which would be laid huge conduit pipes, and for every parking stall would have a little concrete pad down in that trench, with a square metal or carbon fiber box anchored to it, water tight, with some sort of water evacuation system for leaks due to water tightness failures. Inside the square box would be put a plug and access to changing the conduit contents, and hopefully sized for superconductors for when those become available (maybe big radius bends), but the goal would be to have a pedestal (exchangeable, upgradable) that lives under a cover plate that when an EV parks and communicates that it is present and ready for charge, the pedestal automatically rises out of the ground, reaches around to the car and plugs in (robot snake as example). I can see many holes in this daydream, but one of the salient features of it was that normally it would be put away below ground, and not as easy to vandalize in that position; it would be mechanically locked, and air-tight sealed (to avoid bugs and bacteria getting in).
On my way from Los Angeles to Vegas, I supercharged at the Barstow Supercharger. There was a friendly pair of technicians working near the power cabinets. I asked them if they were working on something to address the theft of the breaker issue a while back. He replied that they were:
1. Installing cameras, motion detectors, lights and sirens by the cabinet.
2. He had just completed the same installation at Fox Hills Mall and was heading to Fresno after Barstow.
3. If the "higher ups" at Tesla approved that this was effective, they would roll this out to more super chargers in California.
Awesome company.
1. Installing cameras, motion detectors, lights and sirens by the cabinet.
2. He had just completed the same installation at Fox Hills Mall and was heading to Fresno after Barstow.
3. If the "higher ups" at Tesla approved that this was effective, they would roll this out to more super chargers in California.
Awesome company.
Ulmo
Active Member
It occurs to me this happened when SuperCharger Status came online; the thieves could contact someone with a Tesla and ask which SuperChargers were empty, so that they could break in when no one was there. They could even wait inside the cage if a vehicle showed up -- they could have a lookout parked in an ICE watching the place from outside and text them on a smartphone.
I wonder if police can get subpoenas for SmartPhones with GPS registering in the area of the cages for the times of the events.
I wonder if police can get subpoenas for SmartPhones with GPS registering in the area of the cages for the times of the events.
AMPd
Well-Known Member
AMPd
Well-Known Member
You people have obviously never been in the theft business.
Sneaking around the area is suspicious as ****
If it were me, I'd go online and make a custom collared shirt with the name and logo of Southern Cal Edison
Go buy a reflective vest and a hard hat
I now have access to the supercharger cabinets without anyone batting an eye.
Sneaking around the area is suspicious as ****
If it were me, I'd go online and make a custom collared shirt with the name and logo of Southern Cal Edison
Go buy a reflective vest and a hard hat
I now have access to the supercharger cabinets without anyone batting an eye.
skitch23
Member
Many of the tweakers in my area that pull copper wire from street lights just wear the vest. Several years ago when we were having major issues with theft, we (as city employees working in the field) were asked to be on the lookout for exactly that.
AMPd
Well-Known Member
Apparently it's not random tweaked messing with the equipment.
It's someone who knows what they are doing, they will have no problem answering the random tesla owners questions.
He will drop some electrician lingo on you regarding what he is doing there and were back to no one questioning him beyond that.
He/she will cone off the area and no way to really know if he's legit or a thief
He will say the sc is down and he's working on it, bye.
You say this as if it's a bad thing.
beths11
THE LONG RANGER
Turn o
I hope that Tesla owners are a bit brighter bunch and would at least call Roadside assistance to verify/get help with alternative charging.
Humans are generally easily intimidated by someone dressed as if they are in a position of authority and projecting confidence. Which is understandable. If someone was working in a Supercharger enclosure and looked like they were with the local electric utility, who would question them?
Tesla is doing the right thing by installing security cameras and the other items mentioned by @joebob73 upthread.
Tesla is doing the right thing by installing security cameras and the other items mentioned by @joebob73 upthread.
AMPd
Well-Known Member
But tesla will confirm what the guy said, the sc will be down.
That's literally the first thing the thief will do.
Now you've arrived at a downed SC with a "utility worker" working on it.
Nothing about that is suspicious, you'd probably be glad to see the guy there thinking he's working on it.
Fremont is not closed. They just rope off three stations during quarter end deliveries. Happens every quarter and they call it reduced service.
I can confirm that. I went in there yesterday evening when it said they were closed, and they were all open, and there were several other cars. After 6pm, I think all spots are opened up. I got 26KW initially , ramping up to I think 85KW after the paired stall opened up.
I've pretty much learned to ignore the status for Fremont. Maybe they cordon it off during the day, but I've only used it ~7pm or later in recent months. Also, I don't think it's a quarter end thing - it seems to be set that way for the past month or more.
Dublin on the other hand, I wish they had more stalls at. I think that one is just capacity constrained. There never seems to be more than 2-3 stalls free, and often it's 0-1 stalls. At that occupancy, one has to budget for a longer halt because of paired stall throttling.
I've pretty much learned to ignore the status for Fremont. Maybe they cordon it off during the day, but I've only used it ~7pm or later in recent months. Also, I don't think it's a quarter end thing - it seems to be set that way for the past month or more.
Dublin on the other hand, I wish they had more stalls at. I think that one is just capacity constrained. There never seems to be more than 2-3 stalls free, and often it's 0-1 stalls. At that occupancy, one has to budget for a longer halt because of paired stall throttling.
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
I tend to watch my car while it Superchargers. It's difficult at Buttonwillow and Gusine but easy at Bakersfield as I sit by the window at the IHOP
Blu Zap
Grinning member
A final point on this thread. Great news! Tesla continues to take action. I charged up at the Petaluma SC on Saturday, 4/1. There was a security guard on duty there, watching only the SuperCharger. When I asked her about who is paying for it and the coverage. Her answer was very clearly that Tesla is footing the bill and the coverage is 24/7 for the next couple of months. Proactive security. Who would of thought this would be necessary. But it is.
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