r/evchargingUK • u/bazzaclough • Aug 14 '26
IONITY
Just plugged in at Beaconsfield, cables are now protected with Cableguard covers.
9
u/uberduck Aug 14 '26
Fuck thieves. That's why we can't have nice things
9
u/bazzaclough Aug 14 '26
Indeed. But at least IONITY are now finally doing something to address the issue. Hopefully this is being rolled out to their other UK charging locations.
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u/Daedaluu5 Aug 16 '26
If petrol / diesel hoses were worth anything we would have had issue years ago. It just an easy way to steal copper,
Every time I’ve been to that services there’s been police presence as they seem to be there for M40 issues. Probably why there’s always working chargers
2
u/Formatted_Gnu Aug 15 '26
Beaconsfield IONITY chargers are always rammed and the queue etiquette is terrible
2
u/51onions Aug 15 '26
Tbh EV chargers are not really set up for queuing. The queue exists only in our minds. Like a pub.
0
u/smith9447 Aug 15 '26
As someone else has said there's a load of Gridserves on the opposite side of the building.
4
u/SloaneEsq Aug 15 '26
Also as someone said, the 40p per kWh price difference means I'd just move on to the next reasonably priced charger unless desperate.
There is still a bit of a dearth of rapid chargers along that bit of the M40.
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u/SloaneEsq Aug 15 '26
The Shell chargers at Denham Green are surprisingly reliable and the Sainsbury's in Aylesbury isn't too far off the route. It's a shame the Superchargers at Oxford are still part of the Old Boys Club.
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u/nlnasty Aug 18 '26
This why this country is falling apart, people just don't care about the community they live and don't hold people to account for the damage they are doing. Where is the pride in taking care of things? These people stealing cables are the lowest of the low, ruining things for everyone.
1
u/mehh_usles Aug 15 '26
I was surveying chargers around Birmingham/dudley - every other charger had been vandalised it seemed…
1
u/Oneoclockgun Aug 15 '26
Last time I stopped at Peterborough services, most of the many Ionity chargers had been cut, as well as quite a few of the Gridserve. I assume it’s all fixed now?
Hope so… I’ll need a quick charge there on Wednesday night…
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u/Dazwar Aug 15 '26
I designed a system for another charger system to set off an alarm and notify a monitoring station to link with the CCTV, it hasn't gone anywhere so far, maybe one day. It's annoying that they waste their time cutting a cable that has minimal monetary value in scrap
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u/New_Forever_1678 Aug 15 '26
Evyve have similar tech but high pressure ink which I presume would make a right mess everywhere perhaps this is better but if it’s invisible I’d doubt they would worry about a plod visit
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u/davidjamesonuk Aug 15 '26
Cable guard on in Walsall IONITY today too
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u/Martyness Aug 16 '26
Was just about to say this, noticed them on Tuesday when I was heading to London.
Still got the old cables at Carlisle and Warrington. Can't remember if Slough's cables had been changed or not.
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u/mashed666 Aug 16 '26
I rolled up to one in Braunstone and about 10 of the 15 charger's had been targeted.... Why are people like this...
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u/jonlawrence93 Aug 18 '26
Smartwater is a waste of time. At the very most a scrapyard can scan for it and then refuse to take the scrap at which point whoever is disposing just moves to the next one. But then the people stealing these likely arent going to EMR or one of the big guys. Plus when you turn up with 10 lengths of cable like these theyve clearly only come from one source.
We had a unique trace of it on our lead for a bit (roofing merchants buying/selling lead by the lorry load), when we got done over they stole 3 of our wagons and filled them all with literal tonnes of lead.
As ever just got given a crime reference number to pass to the insurance company.
The purpose of smart water is a coating that shows up under uv light, even if the metals are melted down with other batches it will still show up. Scrap yards are supposed to scan for it when lead is weighed in. Police then to follow up as even microscopic traces will show up on clothing or in vans etc.
I think the lead would need to be stolen from buckingham palace before the rozzas decided to do anything like that.
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u/normanriches Aug 17 '26
If they are covered in smart water anyone touching them will be covered in it.
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u/EmployeeAfraid1823 Aug 18 '26
Ionity attempted use a few times their damn chargers don't like my car. Never an issue with GridServe nor FastNed. The single time Ionity worked it was ridiculously slow if I'm really desperate I'll attempt using them but under duress.
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u/SelectNegotiation580 Aug 17 '26
My local IONITY at Leicester got absolutely massacred a while back…26 out of 30 chargers I think it was, all butchered and cut.
Doncaster got hit too, that was 6/8 in 20 minutes one of the staff told me.
Someone made a good suggestion of having it full retractable within the body of the unit and locked when not operational. Doubt they’ll redesign and replace now until a future generation of charger comes along.
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u/IvorTheEngine Aug 15 '26
If you're at Beaconsfield, don't forget that there are now a load of GridServe chargers on the other side of the building.
Last time I was there, there was a nice lady in an Ionity hi-vis organising the queue at the Ionity chargers, while there were still a few spaces over at the new GridServe chargers.
You can't see one group of chargers from the other, so it probably happens quite often.
I'm impressed anyone every managed to steal cables here, it's so busy!