Vancouver Island seems to be a hot spot of electric vehicle (EV) charging vandalism and theft, after a local dealership recently reported having two EV charging stations stolen from their lot.
Earlier this year, five different charging station in Buckley Bay were damaged after vandals cut the charging cables near the ends of the cords, presumably to steal the copper inside the wires.
Soon after, more public EV charging stations in Qualicum Beach were damaged after vandals cut there also cut the charging cables.
Now the Harris Kia dealership in Nanaimo, British Columbia has also been hit, but this time the entire charging units were stolen, ripped right off the concrete wall.
According to Dave Bare, Dealer Principal at Harris Kia, the units stolen sometime overnight between May 6 and May 7. The two units stolen were black FLO G5 chargers, which are typically used by guests to the dealership.
Since Nanaimo is the “mid-point” of the island, they are also often used by drivers passing through the area that need a little extra juice to reach their destination.
Bare says the dealership is considering not replacing the chargers, as they fear the same thing will just happen again, leaving them out of pocket thousands of dollars, with little chance of actually catching the thieves involved.
If anyone has any information on the theft of the EV chargers, or where they may be, are encouraged to contact Harris Kia.
