How do you all prevent theft of charging cables in public?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
If you are referring to the included trickle charging cable, if your car has the inlet locking solenoid, then your plug locks to the car. Otherwise, you may need get a trickle charging station with a lockable plug. I don’t know of other solutions but I hope other people chime in.
 
What model eGolf do you have?

As f1geek says, some models lock the EVSE plug when you lock the car.

If you have a model such as the 2016 SE which doesn't lock, you have a couple of options.

If it's just an occasional thing, put the brick of your charger in your trunk and close the hatch on your cables. Doing it in the corner of the hatch will cause the least crimping. This method creates extra heat that over time can melt your plug, so it's not a good long-term solution. Also don't do it when it's raining or else you can get water in your trunk. (I speak from experience about both of those issues.)

For a more permanent solution, use a padlock. You can loop the EVSE cable around your wheel and lock it to itself, or feed a bike cable through one of the wheel spokes then lock your cable to it.
 
cctop said:
What model eGolf do you have?

As f1geek says, some models lock the EVSE plug when you lock the car.

If you have a model such as the 2016 SE which doesn't lock, you have a couple of options.

If it's just an occasional thing, put the brick of your charger in your trunk and close the hatch on your cables. Doing it in the corner of the hatch will cause the least crimping. This method creates extra heat that over time can melt your plug, so it's not a good long-term solution. Also don't do it when it's raining or else you can get water in your trunk. (I speak from experience about both of those issues.)

For a more permanent solution, use a padlock. You can loop the EVSE cable around your wheel and lock it to itself, or feed a bike cable through one of the wheel spokes then lock your cable to it.

I have the 2016se, and it does lock it when I lock the doors. However, I know that if I wanted to, I could prob break it loose with no problem. Any thief is just going to snap that thing off easily, breaking the lock tab most likely on the car. Stolen L2 charge cable + damage lock mechanism on car. Not good.

If I am going to charge in public, it will need to be a level2 charger or else its going to be quite pointless.

Example: drive 40miles to a job which I only work at for 2-4hours. Drive home. Doing this, I would need to regain atleast 1/4 of the battery to mske it home, and the oem charger would hardly charge anything in 2hours.

So, my question is about preventing theft of a cable that costs hundreds of dollars.
 
I don't understand your question.

If you're using your own portable EVSE, the methods I suggested will work no matter if it's a Level 1 or Level 2 EVSE.

Are you asking how to stop someone from trying to unplug your car? Visibly locking your cable should be a deterrent. But FYI while I'm sure someone somewhere must have had a problem with their port being broken by someone trying to steal their portable EVSE, more commonly you hear about the port getting broken because the plug is too tight or the locking mechanism gets stuck.

Side question: are you outside of the U.S.? The 2016 SE model I had in the U.S. didn't lock the plug, and in the U.S. you're not likely to find a NEMA plug for a portable Level 2 EVSE outside of your home or an RV campground.
 
If your USA spec SE has a vehicle inlet locking solenoid, that means your car has DCFC capability. Why not just stop for a 10-15 minute QC session and then not worry about AC charging during your job? Also, 4 hrs on L1 could get ~30 miles of range, so it may work for your commute. But since you are going to use an L2 station, the point is moot.
I think if a thief is willing to break your car or the J1772 plug, then this thief probably also carries around bolt cutters, so he’s taking your cable and EVSE regardless of what you do.
 
Ok, thanks guys. I need to learn about my car more ha. I havent even read about the dc charging yet.

I will educate myself more and use your provided suggestions.
 
Consider yourself an early adopter. Anyone outside of people who have money to burn & buy an EV for Status reasons, are thoughtful, considerate & forward thinking. Hence why they own an EV... I have only seen a few charge cable cuts for copper theft. like. 2... (I saw it on the internet, so it must be true...)

relax. if you are charging, pay attention to when you are fully charged OR when you have set your car to finish. BE there for the finish, unplug & move to open the spot. Basic courtesy. Not hard...

Do this & think of it as a pay it forward. For always remember: treat people the way you want to be treated.
 
cctop said:
Side question: are you outside of the U.S.? The 2016 SE model I had in the U.S. didn't lock the plug, and in the U.S. you're not likely to find a NEMA plug for a portable Level 2 EVSE outside of your home or an RV campground.

I have a 2016se, am in the US, and just confirmed that the plug is locked when the doors are locked. I pressed the button on the plug handle while it is charging, and tried to pull it out. It is held in place by something I cannot see - the lock.

How do I confirm the car has DC charging capability?

Edit: I called the dealership and they said all 2016se models have dc charging. He also told me that all 220outlets are dc, I did not know this.
 
Ihopethisworks said:
cctop said:
Side question: are you outside of the U.S.? The 2016 SE model I had in the U.S. didn't lock the plug, and in the U.S. you're not likely to find a NEMA plug for a portable Level 2 EVSE outside of your home or an RV campground.

I have a 2016se, am in the US, and just confirmed that the plug is locked when the doors are locked. I pressed the button on the plug handle while it is charging, and tried to pull it out. It is held in place by something I cannot see - the lock.

How do I confirm the car has DC charging capability?

Edit: I called the dealership and they said all 2016se models have dc charging. He also told me that all 220outlets are dc, I did not know this.

That is simply not true. Your L2 home charger connected to 240V (two legs of 120V AC) is most certainly not DC.

In North America, the plug that you put into the car with the round end is a J1772 plug. This is AC charging.

When it is combined with an oval-shaped connector with two pins underneath the round J1772, it is called CCS1, or Combined Charging System 1. This is DC charging.

See: https://evcharging.enelx.com/eu/about/news/blog/552-ev-charging-connector-types
 
:D Warning!!! :D Do NOT trust what the dealer tells you!

I have seen 2016 SE e-Golfs without a locking solenoid- the AC charge only inlet has a J1772 port. An e-golf with the locking inlet port is equipped with a CCS Type 1 inlet. Here is another picture of a type 1 CCS inlet: https://www.phoenixcontact.com/online/portal/us?1dmy&urile=wcm%3apath%3a/usen/web/main/products/subcategory_pages/Charging_sockets_for_electric_cars_CCS_type_1_P-29-03-07-02/33c1ec36-0674-4e0f-8e48-9cc4fb137e6e

The e-golf ships from the factory with a removable plastic cover to protect the DC+ and DC- pins on the CCS inlet.
 
Ihopethisworks said:
How do I confirm the car has DC charging capability?

Post a picture of your charging port and we can tell you if you have DC charging capability.

All eGolf ports have a circle with 5 holes. That's the J1772 port, for Level 1 and Level 2 AC charging.

Below that circle some eGolfs have a removable cover hiding an oval with two silver pins. That's the DC fast charge port, sometime mistakenly called a Level 3 charger. See pic below.

The DC fast charge port was a $1500 option on the 2016 SE, not standard equipment. If your car doesn't have the bottom oval with two silver pins, just the top circle with 5 holes, then you have the standard slow charger and can't use a DC fast charger. Also note that a full Level 2 charge takes twice as long on the standard 2016 SE slow charger, about 8 hours as opposed to about 4 hours for those who have the faster charger.

My 2016 SE which had the standard slow port didn't lock the plug to the car when it was charging. My 2019 SE which has the faster charger does lock the plug.

e-Golf-SEL.jpg
 
cctop said:
Ihopethisworks said:
How do I confirm the car has DC charging capability?

Post a picture of your charging port and we can tell you if you have DC charging capability.

All eGolf ports have a circle with 5 holes. That's the J1772 port, for Level 1 and Level 2 AC charging.

Below that circle some eGolfs have a removable cover hiding an oval with two silver pins. That's the DC fast charge port, sometime mistakenly called a Level 3 charger. See pic below.

The DC fast charge port was a $1500 option on the 2016 SE, not standard equipment. If your car doesn't have the bottom oval with two silver pins, just the top circle with 5 holes, then you have the standard slow charger and can't use a DC fast charger. Also note that a full Level 2 charge takes twice as long on the standard 2016 SE slow charger, about 8 hours as opposed to about 4 hours for those who have the faster charger.

My 2016 SE which had the standard slow port didn't lock the plug to the car when it was charging. My 2019 SE which has the faster charger does lock the plug.

e-Golf-SEL.jpg

This is what my charger port looks like, almost exactly. Only difference is, that I have a 2nd button(left) for scheduled time charging.
 
Spektre said:
Ihopethisworks said:
cctop said:
Side question: are you outside of the U.S.? The 2016 SE model I had in the U.S. didn't lock the plug, and in the U.S. you're not likely to find a NEMA plug for a portable Level 2 EVSE outside of your home or an RV campground.

I have a 2016se, am in the US, and just confirmed that the plug is locked when the doors are locked. I pressed the button on the plug handle while it is charging, and tried to pull it out. It is held in place by something I cannot see - the lock.

How do I confirm the car has DC charging capability?

Edit: I called the dealership and they said all 2016se models have dc charging. He also told me that all 220outlets are dc, I did not know this.

That is simply not true. Your L2 home charger connected to 240V (two legs of 120V AC) is most certainly not DC.

In North America, the plug that you put into the car with the round end is a J1772 plug. This is AC charging.

When it is combined with an oval-shaped connector with two pins underneath the round J1772, it is called CCS1, or Combined Charging System 1. This is DC charging.

See: https://evcharging.enelx.com/eu/about/news/blog/552-ev-charging-connector-types

When you say "two legs of 120v ac" I am interpreting that as it plugs into 2 normal outlets simultaniously.

However, if we plug in something to a single 220v, like what your dryer uses, or what a 5th wheel trailer uses, then it is DC. This is what the tech was trying to say; and I question the accuracy of this.

Thank you very much for the link, the info combined with the pictures really makes it clear. I am CCS2 capable.
 
Ihopethisworks said:
When you say "two legs of 120v ac" I am interpreting that as it plugs into 2 normal outlets simultaniously.

However, if we plug in something to a single 220v, like what your dryer uses, or what a 5th wheel trailer uses, then it is DC. This is what the tech was trying to say; and I question the accuracy of this.

Thank you very much for the link, the info combined with the pictures really makes it clear. I am CCS2 capable.

That's incorrect, all the power at your house is AC, both 110 and 220 volt outlets at your home are AC outlets. You'd need an AC/DC converter to convert your wall power to DC.

110 volt AC charging is generally referred to as Level 1 Charging

220/240 volt AC charging is generally referred to as Level 2 Charging

DC Fast charging is done at 356 volts (same voltage as your battery pack) and done at much faster speeds than you can achieve at home. You can only achieve this level of charging as specially marked DC Fast Chargers, and as mentioned above they use a different connector than a standard AC charging station.
 
If you have a USA or Canada car, it has a CCS1 (not CCS2) inlet. I agree there is NO DC current in your home, unless you have an inverter (like the small box you plug your phone charging cable into) to convert the mains electricity supply (Alternating Current (AC)) into DC (Direct Current). Be aware, all batteries are DC devices. There is a charger (inverter) in your car that converts the 120 V or 240 V AC current supplied by the J1772 plug into DC current that charges the battery pack. When you connect to a public DC Fast Charger (DCFC), the station uses some of the pins in the J1772 receptacle to communicate with the car, but electricity is ONLY sent into the two large pins to bypass the car's charger (inverter) and send DC current directly to the battery pack.
 
Ihopethisworks said:
inner stuff clipped...

So, my question is about preventing theft of a cable that costs hundreds of dollars.

I am uneducated on this cable. Does it allow you to plug car direct into a NEMA outlet? Or do I still need EVSE between NEMA outlet and VW J1772 inlet?
 
Back
Top