New Mexico Shows Us The Toll Vandalism Takes On EV Charging

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I recently came across something awful on Plugshare: a charging station that took a beating from an idiot before it could even be turned on. In this article, I’m going to discuss the station itself, a wider trend that it’s a part of, and hopefully come up with some fodder for discussion on how to fix this problem.

Cuba’s First Charging Station

The Bay of Pigs invasion. CIA assassination attempts. Illegal cigars. A kid ripped from his home in the middle of the night—NO! Not that Cuba. This time, we’re talking about the little town of Cuba, New Mexico.

It’s a small town along US-550, a dangerous but essential highway. Before it became a U.S. highway, it was the infamous NM-44, for which many people used to have “Pray For Me, I Drive 44” bumper stickers. Sadly, high accident rates persist despite it becoming a four-lane highway. But, it’s by far the quickest way to go from Albuquerque to the Farmington area, Durango, and even Salt Lake City. Eventually, the road will probably become an interstate.

Because it’s on a route that’s a lot more important than it looks, there’s actually a lot of traffic that comes through. Despite being a very small town, several restaurants and gas stations get decent business, as well as a couple of older motels. But, the only place you can charge an EV along the route has been at an RV park.

Thanks to some Dieselgate money, the state was able to partner with Francis Energy to get a couple of stalls put in. Unlike in the past, where almost everything ended up at Allsup’s gas stations, this time it ended up being located at a BBQ restaurant. And, recently, the equipment was installed.

Unfortunately, most charging stations don’t go online as soon as the station equipment is installed. In many cases, a charging company will need to wait for weeks or even months for a transformer to be installed and for the station to get power. So, it could still be a while before EV drivers can stop in and get a charge between the Albuquerque metro and the Farmington area.

Before this could happen, some idiot decided to smash one of the stalls up.

It’s unclear how this will affect the station’s opening. According to a Plugshare user, the other stall is still in good shape. The station in question may still activate for people despite the broken cover over the screen area, especially if the app is used. But, it could mean that only one stall opens while Francis waits for a repair or replacement parts.

Not The First Time Something Like This Has Happened In Rural, New Mexico

In another article I wrote earlier this year, I discussed what happens when fentanyl cripples your EV. Another Francis Energy station in Roswell, New Mexico got its cables cut off. While there really isn’t that much copper in EV charging cables (they’re liquid-cooled so that they don’t need to be a heavy gauge), there’s still something of value there that an enterprising addict might be able to trade for their next high. As I’ve learned through sad experience, there are whole gangs whose lower ranks consist of homeless addicts who are sent out to steal anything they can, and they get paid in fentanyl when they turn things like copper wiring in.

But, at the same time, there’s really no way to be 100% sure that this station’s damage came at the hands of a desperate person. It could be that someone really hates EVs, works in the oil industry, or otherwise has some reason to think that a non-living machine that dispenses electricity might be a mortal enemy. Regardless of the causes, rolling up to a station to find that it can’t give you a charge can be a huge problem for an EV driver.

There have also been numerous charging station vandalism incidents around the United States. Cut cables hit the news regularly, but smaller things like graffiti, scratchings, and screen damage don’t bleed enough to lead. There have also been acts of arson, such as one that took out an Electrify America station in Mesa, Arizona for months.

Looking For Answers To This Problem

I’d love to be able to tell readers that there’s one simple solution to this problem. It would be pretty cool if we could just vote the right way, pass one law, or change one aspect of station design to make the problem go away. But alas, there is not.

That having been said, we can still find solutions for at least some of the problems that lead to station vandalism.

One common cause for vandalism is poor security. Regardless of the motives of the person who damages an EV charging station, nobody wants to get caught cutting a cable or taking their hatred out on a machine. Stations that are in a dark corner of a parking lot out of view of the local business’s employees fall prey to this more often. Something as simple as having cameras, having the stations in view of humans, or placed in parking lots that are busy 24/7 can help.

Another problem is the culture wars. These days, things are getting ridiculous. Not only are political positions commonly assigned the labels “Republican” or “Democrat” (or conservative vs liberal, etc), but things like churches, restaurants, and even drinks (“latte-sipping liberals”) have been assigned a side in the political warfare. Getting something as simple as what fuel powers a vehicle out of the realm of the culture wars would help reduce this quite a bit.

Another big problem is that many people see EVs as a threat to their jobs. In both Roswell and northwest New Mexico, there are many people who make a living working in the oil industry. Welders, truck drivers, oil production workers, contractors, and many others might feel like an EV charging station is going to put them out of work. In the long run this may be true, but in the short run, busting up a charging station won’t stop people passing through from buying an EV.

This is a complex problem caused by many different things, some that I probably didn’t get to here. So, we’re going to have to work on all of them to get rid of the problem of vandalism.

Featured image: a screenshot from Plugshare.com showing the damaged station.