Vandals are cutting cords at EV charging stations in Minneapolis, St. Paul

Mike Norton needed to plug in his electrical-powered Ford Mustang Mach-E recently, so he rolled up to a curbside charging station in south Minneapolis only to find it out of commission.

Somebody had cut the cord on the charging station at W. 29th Street and Aldrich Avenue S. in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood. Norton found himself forced to go in search of another place to power up.

“Frustrating,” said Norton, who has been driving electric vehicles since 2014. “There is a lack of supply [of charging stations] and now vandals are compounding things.”

Minneapolis and St. Paul together are building out a public EV charging network that, when complete, will include about 70 hubs between the two cities where drivers can recharge their batteries. The hubs are outfitted with Level 2 chargers, offering faster charging times than a standard plug-in at home. As they’ve come online, they have increasingly become a target for thieves.

Officials in Minneapolis say 63 cables have been cut or removed from EV chargers since the city started installing its public charging spots. Some of the damaged and stolen cords have been replaced only to be hit again, city spokeswoman Sarah McKenzie said.

In St. Paul about 20 chargers have been hit, said Lisa Hiebert, a spokeswoman with the city’s Public Works Department. The past year has been particularly bad, she said.

“It is an issue,” she said. “It’s frustrating on so many levels for everyone. It’s problematic because people can’t charge their cars. It is not a victimless crime.”

For the past several months, damaged charging stations have been an inconvenience for Abby Hornberger, who drives a Nissan Leaf. That has been especially true during the winter months when the distance she can travel on a full charge drops in half.

As an apartment renter in Uptown, Hornberger doesn’t have a place to plug in at home. The city-operated charger near W. 25th Street and Aldrich Avenue S. is a lifeline, but cords there have been cut twice in the past few months, including two weeks ago, she said.

“It’s a little frustrating because I need extra time to find a charger that works,” Hornberger said. “There have been some knuckle-clenching moments. Am I going to make it? You have to have a back-up.”

Replacing damaged chargers is expensive. Minneapolis has replaced 46 vandalized cords, each at about $1,000 a pop. It can take a lot of time, too. Chargers can be down for extended periods because there are long lead times in obtaining replacement parts and arranging for Public Works crews to go make the repairs, McKenzie said.

Thieves who have been stealing copper wire used to power street lights for years have seemingly turned their sights on EV charging stations, though there is not a great deal of the metal in them, Hiebert said.

Norton called the vandalism “strange” and wondered if it’s some kind of a protest. If so, “I wish they would be more clear on what the protest is,” he said.

Leaders in both cities say they don’t have a lot of answers but are looking for ways to mitigate the problem and deter the vandalism. They ask anybody who sees damaged cables to report it by calling 311 in Minneapolis or 651-266-8989 or emailing publicworks@ci.stpaul.mn.us in St. Paul. Anybody who witnesses a suspected copper theft should call 911.

Hornberger had a simple solution and a direct message to the crooks.

“Quit it please,” she said. “You are making my life hard.”