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Comment by talldatethrow | Hacker News Reader

I think as soon as thieves realize cars that are plugged in with drivers inside waiting are not able to drive away without unplugging, there will be a huge surge in crime against people charging their EVs. Then there will be a large surge in people going back to complaining about EVs having too many drawbacks.

At least at a gas station I'm only there for 5 minutes, it's not at the back of some dark parking lot, and I can start the car and drive away if I had to.

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I live in a fairly high crime area, but I can't imagine this being true in any way. What sort of crime are you thinking? Standard mugging? So many easier targets in other areas, plus the cars record everything, and there are usually lots of others charging.

The worst experience I have had while charging late at night in a remote area was being accosted by an over-enthusiastic Tesla fan who just wanted to talk talk talk about the car and where it had gone. That was very unpleasant, but certainly not criminal.

I said as soon as criminals figure it out. They don't know people sitting alone in the back of parking lots can't even drive away without getting out first.

It also took them a few years to figure out they could steal the cables. At first they probably thought they were live.

Industry is already figuring out magsafe like solutions for Tesla Car chargers, it’s something else that Tesla is suing them for it lol.

Also, considering car chargers are likely to have many cars being charged, thieves would rather find it easier to steal parked out in the open cars outside people’s homes, than car charging spots which can easily be targeted by police to catch thieves red handed.

Not to mention, you’ll see more Magsafe charger implementations for Cars soon.

[see this](https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/2/24212160/tesla-evject-laws...)

EVs are often festooned with cameras which is a disincentive to opportunistic crime. At fast charging stations there's usually other people sitting in their cars which is another disincentive.

Criminals mug and kill shop owners pretty often. Knowing theres a camera isn't going to stop anyone.

I should add that I currently have a non Tesla EV. So I've sat in those charge spots. A camera or possibly another sitting duck next to you isn't going to save you.

Uh, you can do the same with your EV? Nothing stopping you from unplugging and driving away if you want.

At a gas station you can just drive away. In an EV, you can't without getting out where the criminal is.

How are you putting gas in your car my guy

Dude idk how this is so difficult. At a gas station, in a well lit place near a road, with a worker inside, where you are only for 4 minutes... If someone heads in your direction that you don't like, you can be in your car in 2-3 seconds.. and drive away. Even if you left the pump in your car.

OR, you can be in an EV for 20 minutes... In a corner of a parking lot... And if someone comes up to your window... You can basically sit there and hope he doesn't have a free piece of ceramic to break your window and hold a knife to you until you give him whatever he wants.

I promise you, as soon as that class of criminal realizes EVs CAN NOT MOVE while plugged in, it's going to get weird.

Is your entire argument that electric vehicles will typically not start when plugged in, while some gas cars are not advanced enough that they let you literally wrench the gas pump off if you drive away with it connected, an action that can cause serious if not catastrophic damage to your vehicle and the station equipment? Do you really think that the two seconds it takes to unplug a car is going to cause a spate of opportunistic crime? Like, to the point where people will not buy an EV because they are concerned they are going to be mugged? Because this seems like an insane position to me.

I am at a loss for words.

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