17-02-2025
Tesla Wants Revenge On Charging Cable Thieves
Read the full story on The Auto Wire
For some time now, EV charging station cable theft has been a growing problem, including at Tesla Superchargers. Just like with catalytic converters on ICE cars, the cables are valuable enough to be sold at metal recycling centers and can be removed quickly using a Tesla has a new trick to shame and humiliate anyone who tries cutting through Supercharger cables, thanks to a company called CatStrap and its lovely invention DyeDefener. Originally developed to be attached to catalytic converters, the stainless steel hose contains pressurized blue dye similar to those dye packs found on valuables in retail stores.
As the thief tries cutting through the cable, the pressurized dye sprays out, hitting the thief's hands, arms, face, etc. staining them. This not only is a humiliating thing to endure, it marks the person as the one who tried stealing the charging cable.
What Tesla has done in a pilot program involves CatStrap's invention, only customized to fit around the charging cables at Superchargers. A Tesla owner first spotted the DyeDefender being used at a Supercharger in Seattle. We're unsure where else they're being tested out.
Potential thieves receive a warning that the charging cable is pressurized via a tag up where the cable attaches to the Supercharger housing. Since that's about where they're usually cut, it's a good location. We're just unsure if criminals will stop to read a warning or heed it.
It's unclear if the CatStrap, which contains a triple layer of custom-hardened steel, is also contained in the sleeve over the Tesla charging cables. CatStrap makes the DyeDefender so it can slide over, giving ICE car owners double protection from catalytic converter thieves.
The company also bundles these with something called the CatEye, an alarm that exposes thieves to a 130 dB sound blast.
Just a trial. We're always exploring options. Supercharger cables will also have "Property of Tesla" engraved from our Buffalo NY factory, so recycling companies shouldn't accept them and notify us. It's a scalable, cost-effective solution that doesn't impact service operations &…
— Max de Zegher (@MdeZegher) February 12, 2025
To further combat the theft of Supercharger cables, Tesla is apparently trying out engraving 'Property of Tesla' on the copper. This is supposed to let copper recyclers know the material has been stolen, hopefully leading to its return and the thieves' capture. Max de Zegher, one of the top guns over the Supercharger network, revealed on X this inexpensive solution going through a trial run currently.
In other words, Tesla is serious about stopping charging cable thieves and is working on solutions to the pervasive crime.
Image via Tesla
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