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[-] lazynooblet@lazysoci.al 36 points 4 days ago

They are starting to rip out the cables used in car chargers. It's only 2m long, costs £300 to replace and the thief strips out £4 worth of copper.

[-] OmegaLemmy@discuss.online 18 points 4 days ago

In turkey there are a lot of people who gather cardboard for recycling for a wage of about 30-40 dollars a day

Is the USA version of this just pulling copper?

[-] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 41 points 4 days ago

Stealing copper, getting under older cars and cutting out catalytic converters, yes. Copper is not a big money maker but it's better than collecting aluminum cans.

The problem with 90% of crime is poverty. They do hundreds of dollars of damage to make a few bucks. If we had universal basic income or better safety nets these crimes would nearly vanish overnight.

[-] Serinus@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago

Well, except that it's nearly always super damaging.

The US version would be more like collecting cans back when they had a 5 or 10 cent deposit. Today I can't really think of anything like that. Maybe driving Uber/Lyft. Or just panhandling/begging.

[-] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Michigan still does 10 cents a bottle

[-] MadBob@feddit.nl 1 points 3 days ago

People do that now in the Netherlands. The bins on the streets of Amsterdam sometimes have little holsters for bottles and tins so you can leave them for people who'd otherwise (or I imagine who still) dig through the rubbish for the deposit.

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 0 points 3 days ago

Several states do this, probably more profit than door dash.

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 0 points 3 days ago

We have recyclers too

[-] dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

If this is how the Western world arrives at harm reduction and UBI for everyone - that it's just good business - I'm not even gonna be mad.

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 points 2 days ago

Like that would happen when they can sell £4 cables for £300.

[-] Shard@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

It's not that £4 cable costs £300. £4 is the scrap value of the copper once the insulation has been peeled off. Freshly made cable costs a bit more than that.

It costs £300 to fix because of the cost of the cable, labour and the workmanship.

[-] Comment105@lemm.ee 1 points 2 days ago

Well, the ones making the cable still probably only make a small fraction of the value in labor. The majority of the inflated price goes to C suite paychecks.

I remember when I made 10s of thousands worth of cable every day from cheap materials and walked away with a couple thousand a month. I ended up quitting that job, but the slightly mentally challenged woman there who was the most efficient and accurate to spec probably still sits there making cables every day.

[-] beaiouns@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 days ago

Why scrap it when you can turn around and sell it right back to them?

[-] TheLowestStone@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

If I break into your house and steal your TV then knock on your door the next day to offer to sell it back to you, would you buy it?

[-] beaiouns@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 days ago

Depends on how much copper is in it, I guess

[-] TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Not much since I stripped it out and sold it for a cool $4. Now do you want this cable for 1/2 off or not!

[-] desktop_user@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 days ago

TBF they do have a large gauge wire in them

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 0 points 3 days ago

It's not a long distance and they don't have super large gauge. I'd have expected 0 or 2/0 but apparently 2-4 is common.

[-] RagingRobot@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

That will be great when I'm on a long trip looking to charge in the middle of nowhere lol.

I have actually been stranded a couple of times already. Still love electric though

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social -5 points 3 days ago

1: Why's it $300 then?

2: All theft from Tesla owners is valid in 2025

3: Why do people assume they aren't selling the expensive cables whole?

[-] Schmuppes@lemmy.today 14 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)
  1. Because the damage also includes labor and overhead, not just material.
  2. We're not talking about Tesla specifically.
  3. Even if the stolen cable was left undamaged, who are you gonna sell it to? The company that owns the charging station?
[-] Clasm@ttrpg.network 6 points 3 days ago

1: Labor & Equipment.

2: Tesla owners don't necessarily own the Charging stations.

3: They are icing wire cutters to remove the cables, destroying the cable in the process.

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social -2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

1: Sure it does. What's the other $250 then?

2: Fair

3: That makes sense. I wonder if the solution might be for the stations to just have ports car owners to provide the cables?

[-] lazynooblet@lazysoci.al 4 points 3 days ago

The cables are capable of 100kw and are thick and heavy

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social -1 points 3 days ago
[-] fallingcats@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 3 days ago

Just crimping a connector to such a cable is hard work. You really can't compare that to traditional wiring. Many are also water-cooled.

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 0 points 3 days ago

The cables are water cooled?

[-] droans@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

You know there's more to it than just raw copper, right?

The cable itself, insulation, active cooling, labor, complicated build process, specialized installation, etc.

Don't be daft.

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 0 points 2 days ago

I'm sure they're all handcrafted masterpieces of workmanship, lmao.

[-] MadBob@feddit.nl 1 points 3 days ago

£300 is about $375, yankee doodle.

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 3 points 3 days ago

Not everyone has a stupid cursive L on their keyboards, marmite

[-] MadBob@feddit.nl 1 points 2 days ago

I can't be annoyed by someone who knows it's an L and correctly guesses I love marmite!

this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2025
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