The rise in the use of electric vehicles has led to a rise in cable theft and criminal damage at charge points too.
The investigation, which collected data from police forces nationwide, revealed 200-plus cases of theft and vandalism against EV chargers across the UK, costing millions of pounds.
Charge point operator Allego cautioned that these figures are likely just the tip of the iceberg, with many incidents going unreported and 40% of surveyed police forces either unable to provide data or saying they do not hold relevant records.
Paz Sharma, managing director of Allego UK, has joined growing calls for EV chargers to be recognised as critical infrastructure and for harsher penalties for those caught targeting these sites.
He is also advocating for the introduction of a new cross-collaborative ‘EV taskforce’ which brings together government, industry, law enforcement, the industry body ChargeUK and political groups such as the Electric Vehicle All Party Parliamentary Group to explore ways to better protect charge points.
Sharma said: “Action needs to be taken to bring EV criminals to book. It’s not about the £25 scrap metal value or even the cost of replacing damaged chargers which runs into thousands of pounds – it’s about giving the nation the best chance of securing its clean transport future.
“Unfortunately, we believe this to be a much more serious problem than the figures indicate, as our investigation flagged that a number of police forces were not in a position to provide information on such incidents. Based on what we hear from the industry and the prevalence of unreported cases, I wouldn’t be surprised if as many as one in 20 charging sites are being targeted.
“With the Government targeting 300,000 public charge points by 2030, we need to nip this trend in the bud and show those targeting chargers that they will face the full force of the law.”
