German motorists facing ‘plague’ of electric car charger cable thefts – 70 charging points a day being gutted to sell for copper scrap

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Cost of repair significantly higher than the $50 thieves might get per cable.

Up to 70 cables a day, chopped off by copper thieves
(Image credit: Mr. Superfly on X)

Electric car charging businesses in Germany are scrambling to combat cable theft, according to a report shared by Golem.de (machine translation). The “plague” is so bad that a reported 70 charging stations were gutted for their cabling in a single day. The scale of the problem is such that it has become difficult for repairers and cabling suppliers to keep up with the work. We saw ample photo and video evidence from annoyed German social media users, communicating their frustrations, precipitated by the thieves’ selfish acts. Yet there is no obvious solution to this scourge.

Golem shared a statement from the CEO of a charging station manufacturer. Philipp Senoner, CEO of Alpitronic, told the German tech publication that “70 cables were cut a day.” The news site also heard from a spokesperson representing Germany's largest fast-charging network operator, EnBW, who complained that 2025 is the worst year yet, with criminals repeatedly cutting and making off with these copper-laden cables.

A contributor to the difficulty in combating these cable thefts is the location of such charging equipment. Typically, chargers are installed in convenient places for drivers to slip in and out of. The same low-friction locations are good for thieves, of course. Golem also notes that many chargers are left available to the public in largely deserted supermarket parking lots overnight.

According to reports, the copper value of the wires in a single electric car charging cable is ~ €40 ($47). For illicit scrap, you would perhaps get a fraction of that. The repair cost to businesses is significantly more. These thefts will also put an affected station out of action for around two weeks.

EnBW has stepped up video surveillance at its stations, and Alpitronic has implemented a software update to quickly register a cable theft. These operational tweaks might improve things for customers, but neither measure is preventative. While it noted that there was no obvious solution to the plague of thefts, Golem’s story would benefit from a quote from the local Polizei.

Conspiracy alert – these chargers can be considered part of Germany’s critical infrastructure. With this in mind, the source report hints that there may be larger, more malign forces at work, than simple callous thieves. We may never know how true that is.

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Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • SomeoneElse23
    Much like the theft of catalytic converts in the US, I don't understand how or why there's a market for this?

    Something is very broken.
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    SomeoneElse23 said:
    Much like the theft of catalytic converts in the US, I don't understand how or why there's a market for this?

    Something is very broken.
    The why is because copper is a valuable commodity.
    The 'buyers' mostly don't care. They know they are buying stolen goods.
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    It's not just Germany, the USA is suffering from copper thieves in everything from EV chargers to street lights to air conditioners, and catalytic converters as mentioned above. It's why some states require scrap metal dealers to collect government issued IDs and details from people who bring in anything that's not aluminum cans.

    As for the conspiracy part that's not exactly unbelievable, though think more the people who either hate EVs, Musk, think EVs are spying on people, or think that they cause health or environment issues rather than a state sponsored attack, especially since certain nations are wanting to get their comparatively dirt cheap EVs (vs Telsas or Japanese EVs) into those places.
    Reply
  • Bikki
    0 law enforcement = rampant crime rate. This is only the surface, when you have weak policing, millions of bad things can happen.
    Reply
  • Marlin1975
    SomeoneElse23 said:
    Much like the theft of catalytic converts in the US, I don't understand how or why there's a market for this?

    Something is very broken.

    With copper wire after you pull the sheathing off you can't tell where it came from.
    So hard to discern if it may be stolen or not.


    I say just leave the wires hot and let the power flow as they try to cut... one last time.
    Reply
  • TechieTwo
    Probably net a few crims if the local police observe who's regularly visiting the scrap recyclers. In the U.S. some of the CAT burglars are being caught and or shot while the companies buying stolen CATs are being prosecuted accordingly. It's a constant problem for society with crims even stealing copper wire from existing homes and apartments. Some end up dead when they don't shut off the power first.
    Reply