Tesla Supercharger: cable thieves experience their blue miracle
An additional coating, which surprises metal thieves with a shower of paint, is intended to better protect the valuable copper cables of the charging stations.
Cable thief before and after.
(Image: CatStrap, Montage: heise online)
In the USA, electric car manufacturer Tesla has started to improve the protection of Supercharger charging cables. In future, thieves who are after the valuable copper will be in for a shock when the cables are cut. According to a report by "not a tesla app", Tesla has equipped the first charging stations with an additional protection system for test purposes.
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According to the online medium, an additional sheath, known as the DyeDefender, is fitted around the power cable. This is a steel sheath that contains a blue liquid under high pressure. If the metal thief cuts through this, he receives an unwanted shower of hard-to-remove paint. The system is therefore comparable to the paint cartridges used by banks for ATMs and cash transports. In the event of a robbery or a machine being blown up, these are triggered, rendering the banknotes unusable.
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The DyeDefender from the manufacturer CatStrap has been available in a similar form for private individuals for some time to prevent the theft of car catalytic converters. These are also coveted by thieves because they are very valuable due to the precious metals they contain: platinum, palladium and rhodium.
Tesla is taking further protective measures to make it more difficult to resell the cables. Markings engraved at the factory that identify Tesla as the owner are intended to persuade recycling companies to reject such copper cables and inform the manufacturer instead.
(chh)
