EV Charger Security - can someone steal your electricity using your car charger?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2024
- Could a stranger use your EV charger to "steal" your electricity?
Charging an electric vehicle at home is an increasingly popular option for many drivers, however a lot of people are concerned about the security of their home car chargers. We aim to offer reassurance to those who might worry that a stranger can rock up and "borrow" their car charger to charge their vehicle.
This videos explain why that's very unlikely and why you don't need to worry about your EV charge security.
Click here to watch EVMan's video on the topic: • Video
#EVChargerSecurity #ChargerEnergyTheft #ElectricCars
Timeline:
00:00 - Intro
00:07 - Charging schedules are your friend
02:33 - Choose a charger with a lock function
04:00 - Electric vehicles are uncommon
04:47 - Conclusion
COMPARE HOME CHARGERS FOR YOUR EV AND GET A QUOTE:
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I use an AmazingE portable Level 2 EVSE for our Volt.
Last year we were displaced by an EF4 tornado destroying our home, so I now rent a workshop and charge there. This workshop is in the parking lot to a convenience store and the EVSE is barely secured to the wall, accessible to anyone, so the cord can reach a specific 220v outlet through a pigtail to the inside. This leaves the entire portable EVSE outside in a public area.
Store customers do not distinguish between my workshop’s side of the parking lot and the store’s parking area so they often park in front of my shop, occasionally even blocking me from getting to our EVSE (only momentary so far). Indeed, the store owners are the ones renting the workshop to me so the lot really is one and the same.
Thankfully, it has not showed up on PlugShare and I have yet to catch anyone using it. The lease does not allow me to alter the electrical configuration inside the building and technically I am not even supposed to be using 220v equipment but I can play dumb since they miswired a 120v outlet with 240v inside. Thankfully, the Volt will not draw too many amps but I worry that someone will come plug their Nissan Leaf into it and charge at more than the 30A my pigtails and outlets are rated for.
I am currently securing the cable to the window with one of those metal straps that you put over pipes and conduit, only I have deliberate rounded the screws to keep people from stealing a $200 EVSE. I don’t feel this is enough so I’d also like a secure mount for the plug side… perhaps one where it blocks the release button with a door that also blocks the mounting screws. Is there any design like this that already exists? Perhaps one that doesn’t require a key (built-in combination or something)? If not, perhaps I can design something 3D printed.
The original Volt Level 1 portable EVSE came with a function that would set off the car alarm if anyone unplugged it but I do not have that because the previous owner ran over the portable EVSE and damaged it. If the alarm function were built-in and would also go off if someone else used it then I would seek out an original OEM replacement. Perhaps something similar can be made using an RFID tag in the car and a reader in the J1772 handle, but that sounds like a job for OpenEVSE.
Anyway, one of my concerns is that someone could steal power for more than just charging their vehicle and I feel the breakdown at the end ignores this. There are literally homeless people sleeping on a gondola behind the store/shop and they might use it for anything if they could get the EVSE to give them standard household power. I’m not terribly concerned with that as it would be even easier for them to tap some electrical wiring that is dangling from where there must’ve been exterior lighting at some point. Even so, the convenience of stealing power to run equipment by carrying around a J1772 cable is probably appealing to crypto miners and such who might have mobile mining setups inside a van to get power from free public chargers. Heck, they could even have banks of batteries to continue powering their rigs.
Their biggest expense with a crypto mining operation is power/cooling and I’m sure someone has realized that these free public chargers are a potential source for free power.
There's one scenario no one seems to talk about. Nefarious neighbours.
Most neighbours are fine, but sometimes, a neighbour could be less than savoury. I wonder about the possibility of a neighbour "popping out" during the night, switching out your charger (maybe before charging has started, and therefore locking), and while you're snug asleep thinking your car is charging, it's not.
I'd imagine it's still a low chance of happening, but not impossible. I guess for something like a holiday, you could set a schedule to "never" charge (Maybe setting zero minutes, or one minute).
Interesting subject, my Q though relates to Guests at our BnB and what we’re finding is an increasing demand and use for charging of their EV’s.
They’re already on the property, they’re there for an extensive amount of time and ‘some’ we’ve found to be opportunistic in accessing themselves to our power. It can just be considered cheeky, but it’s also unauthorised use of an outside power point.
We’re considering installation of a dedicated EV Charger, but I’d be desirable of one that requires access be authorised to only those that pay some compensatory Tarif that accompanies their BnB charges. Is that type of solution available?
Even the old ones have locks
What about stealing the charging unit itself? That’s my main concern installing one on my driveway.
It is physically possible, of cours e, but charge points are installed on to a brick wall usually. So, they are pretty hard to remove unless you have the right tools and even then it isn't exactly quick or discreet to remove them - somebody would hopefully notice. If someone tried to remove the charger from the wall by brute force then they would end up damaging the charger and it would become useless.
Obviously I could not guarantee it won't happen, but I think it's unlikely and I think most criminals would quickly work out it isn't worth their time.
Hope that helps.
Danny - editor at Smart Home Charge
And even if it happens they would have to sit there overnight on my drive stealing 35p worth of electricity per hour. I think I'll cope with the loss.
If someone goes through all of that to get a little bit of charge, maybe they deserve 35p of energy for their efforts. Home charger sharing schemes/apps will also make the need to "borrow" chargers without permission even more unlikely.
People have been 'borrowing' our electric charger without permission. One was a delivery guy {evri} I think, the other was a neighbour.
Think when this video was made, the cost of electricity and decrease of free charging places hadn't happened yet. Now it appears residential places is where to go.
Hi France, yes that is true - the cost of electricity, particularly at public chargers, may make "borrowing" home chargers more attractive.
The other points still stand though. The chances of someone doing this without you knowing are very slim. Also, if you have a schedule set up on your charge point, such as for overnight charging, then the home charge point should only "dispense" during those times. In essence, you would be able to lock out strangers using the charger during the day.
It sounds like your home charger just charges as soon as someone plugs in, which will be the problem. If you stop that by adding a schedule, you'll prevent others using it without permission :)
Danny - editor at Smart Home Charge
There is still one real risk which is the portable charging cable itself being stolen while charging outside the house through the simple outdoor power point or 32amp socket.
But if the car is locked, then the cable can't be removed from the car. The socket yes, but not the car....
Another factor is there are easier places for them to go many business offer free charging pts
Is there a charger that can be set to allow only pre-authorized cars?
Yes. Some systems offer a "pairing up" facility, where if the charger doesn't "recognise" the car being plugged in, it won't work.
I agree the risk reward of stealing electricity is low but that didn't stop some little toerags stealing my Prius catalytic converter which meant jacking up the car on a public street outside my house (high risk) for about £40 worth (low reward) of reclaimed elements in the cat.
That is a real shame and sorry to hear that.
A person can do that in a few minutes and get £40 for it Vs 70p at the most for an hour of charge.
Does everyone assume the "motive" for the thief is that they are trying to steal some electricity because they are too tight to pay for their own? Perhaps this is reflective of the person who is worried that this will happen - are they too tight to lend someone a charge for what is, a few pence? There are various EV drivers who share their approximate home charger location & a contact method online via Plugshare & ZapMap to help their fellow EV drivers in emergency situations (moreso in rural locations) or where someone might be visiting a relative without an EV charger and where public chargers are miles away. Some will ask for payment (a few quid thru the letterbox, paypal or a donation to charity) and others completely free. I personally wouldn't begrudge a stranger a top-up charge, providing they did ask first. The biggest issue on my driveway is parking space.
Those charger sharing services are fantastic and we agree that a sharing mentality would be brilliant for the UK's charging network. The issue is/was that many people new to EVs have a lot of questions because it is so new, so we hope this video helped to dispel the myth that it's "easy" for a charger to be borrowed without permission. But it would be great if they were shared _with_ permission instead, though.
Danny - Smart Home Charge editor
Isn't cable theft more of a problem ? Will unplugging electric cars become the new knock door run.
Not as yet. Many people opt for "tethered" chargers where the cable is permanently attached to the unit, so anyone would have a hard time getting one of those out quickly and even if they did it would be useless.
I use an untethered charger, so the cable is technically removable. No attempt on it as of yet and when it's plugged in the car locks it in place, so you can forcibly remove the cable - not in my case anyway, as I've tried!
Danny - editor at Smart Home Charge
Well what about if you go holiday for few weeks and someone knows then they can use your electricity.
All addressed in the video, Ray. But I'll mention here - if a schedule is set, it will only charge during that time. So you could set an unusable schedule.
Or many chargers have software locks. So simply lock it from outside use.
Additionally, the apps let you monitor usage in real time so you'd know if someone was pinching it.
But if you're really that worried that someone is going to go to great lengths to steal a bit of electricity without anybody noticing while you're on holiday, then simply switch it off at the circuit breaker 😉
I have a master switch in the house for my charger. If I'm not at home for several days, the charger is switched off. Some newer charge systems and apps allow the use of an electronic "handshake", meaning that if the charger doesn't "recognise" the car, it won't charge it....
Ill save you all 7 minutes! Yes your electric can and WILL be stolen (so many clips of it on youtubve already) unless you pay extra for a security box that locks it away.
Nonsense. There are several methods, both electronic and physical, to prevent this happening. Chargers with PIN security etc....
@@Brian-om2hh Its not nonsense, Its literaly in the video
Evman