A local ABC News reporting of Fresno, California, detailed how the city’s new electric vehicle chargers – installed to support the growing number of electric vehicles in the region – are at risk.
“Of the 88 in the city of Fresno, about 50 to 60 have been vandalized, and multiple times as well,” said Melissa Almaguer, manager of the city’s parking division.
Some Reddit commenters addressing similar reports were quick to add context. “It’s not vandalism, it’s copper theft,” said one. note.
Indeed, magazines contain many precious metals, which are often removed during these acts of vandalism or theft.
To solve this problem, custom cabinets must be built around the chargers to protect them. However, this will be costly and slow.
“We don’t repair the ones that were damaged until the steel cabinet is installed. And then we repair them, but in addition to that, we also increased our security,” Almaguer said. The cost of protecting the 88 units is $176,000.
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Fresno is not alone in facing setbacks in its electric vehicle infrastructure plans. Vandalism at train stations across the country is risingaffecting areas from Houston to Sparks, Nevada.
There are problems with charging reliability and waiting times too. According to a JD Power 2023 studyone in five people visiting a station leaves without using it.
At the same time, several major automakers have committed to investing $1 billion in improving charging infrastructure. The plan includes adding fast chargers capable of powering a battery in 30 minutes or less. The first of these stations should be operational by the end of the year.
The White House also supports these sustainable transportation initiatives.
“Since the president took office, electric vehicle sales have more than quadrupled, with more than four and a half million electric vehicles on the road,” according to a report. statement. “The number of publicly accessible charging ports has also increased by more than 70%, with 170,000 publicly available electric vehicle chargers across the country, putting us on track to deploy 500,000 chargers by 2026.”
Hopefully, as more and more people do the switch to electric vehiclescases of vandalism or theft from charging stations will decrease as the public becomes more aware of the many advantages offered by electric vehiclesincluding reducing harmful pollution linked to global warming and saving consumers tons of money on gas and maintenance.
Some commenters expressed disbelief at the mistreatment of these beneficial tools.
“The United States can be such a strange place sometimes,” one said on InsideEVs. declared“I doubt any other place in the world has seen anything like this.”
Another offered a balanced suggestion: saying“Surely the answer is to have stations that are monitored, you know, like gas stations used to be, with the added bonus that if there are any problems recharging, there’s someone there to help you.”
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