According to a report in Netherlands News Live Tuesday, police received 21 reports of stolen charging cables between November 20 and December 4, a high increase in theft with the turn of the season.
The reports, which were largely from Tesla owners, also include the failure of the charging cable theft locking system, which turns off in Teslas when the weather is too cold, in order to prevent the cable from freezing.
While cold weather leaves Teslas vulnerable to theft, Tesla has also manufactured a cold weather charging port, which is self-heated and prevents the need to cancel locking on cold nights.
@elonmusk tesla charging cables are the new car radios for theft. Can't you ID verify the cable to your Tesla?
— TANGLEHUB 🧬 (@Tanglehub_eu) December 22, 2020
The charging cables are valued new at roughly €200 ($243.97 USD) and €300 ($365.95 USD), and second-hand, they could easily be sold for up to €150 ($182.99 USD), making them a prime candidate for theft.
While almost all of the thefts reported to the Dutch police have happened at night, the police also included a theft prevention tip for the victims: parking on top of the charging cable in such a way that the wheel doesn’t damage it. This will make it nearly impossible to steal the cable (unless your car is moved).
Tesla owners with Sentry Mode can also catch thieves in the act. In either case, hopefully, the next few years of safety and theft prevention updates will continue to make Teslas more and more theft-proof.
