EV cable thefts – a new worry for commercial fleets

As if commercial vehicle fleets did not have enough to worry about already, a new trend is emerging – the theft of EV charging cables. Thefts more than doubled in 2024, new data indicates.

DeterTech, which operates a national intelligence portal on behalf of all police forces in England and Wales, said organised criminal gangs were exploiting this emerging market – and it has uncovered alarming insights.

Both residential EV chargers and public charging stations are being targeted by low-level offenders and serious organised gangs alike, particularly in areas such as South Yorkshire and the West Midlands.

And Gary Higgins, Director of security and risk at DeterTech, said hotspots will continue to be targeted by criminals until adequate deterrents are in place.

“Worryingly, offenders are often found revisiting the same public charging stations to steal replacement cables installed after previous thefts. This ongoing cycle of events underscores the importance of disrupting the supply chain and ensuring stolen cables can be easily identified,”

he said.

Each stolen or damaged cable costs charging providers between £700 and £1,000 and figures indicate that theft and vandalism costs the industry upwards of £500,000 based on the cost of replacement, repair and lost income.