The holidays should be a time to enjoy and live in harmony, but sometimes they seem like the most stressful days of the year. Of course, there are always people looking to take advantage of others or situations. Yet, this scene seems like something out of a Christmas tragicomedy. A driver in Santa Clara, California, was trying to charge their electric car this Christmas when they found the surprise that even the Grinch wouldn’t have planned: all the charging cables had been cut. Not only did this ruin Christmas for this person, but many others were also affected by the lack of chargers.
Redditor greenlakejohnny shared this misadventure on r/Wellthatsucks. In the video, OP shows how they arrived at the charging station in Santa Clara, California, with their electric car, only to find that all the cables had been cut. Many people in the area were affected, as these stations were located next to an elementary school and installed there with a government grant. Some complained that the government put them in a “poor and unsafe” location, but OP explained that they are in a “good area,” 1 mile from NVIDIA headquarters. So it’s clear that the area’s socioeconomic level isn’t the problem.
First, doubts arose over whether the cables had been cut and stolen or stripped by careless drivers. However, OP’s video clearly shows a clean cut right where the cable began. That’s why many users believe the cables were cut to sell the copper as scrap metal by weight. This sparked debates ranging from how much to pay per pound to whether there should be a way to prevent these situations, since copper cable theft is quite common.
“Crackheads are stealing the cables. They’re pure copper,” said RedneckMarxist.
“Is there no way to make tech to protect the copper better?” commented MotherPotential.
The discussions included ways to prevent copper theft, such as changing the material, increasing security, using interchangeable batteries instead of chargers, and more. This is because it is becoming commonplace for people to steal not only copper, but also to damage electric car charging stations in many cities. Therefore, for the time being, the “safest” option would be to install a charging station in each person’s home, but this is expensive and requires home modifications. The worst part is that many of these car charging stations are installed by the government, and no one believes they will be repaired anytime soon.
