Tesla is testing several creative solutions to help prevent charging cable theft at Supercharging — stations, and one of them involves a thief being suddenly hit in the face with a charge of bright paint, according to Electrek.
In fact, the cables are wrapped in small tubes that, if cut, will release paint under pressure — and most likely right into your face. A similar update was spotted on a Tesla Supercharger in Seattle, Washington, and posted on Reddit:
And here’s how the system works in practice:
Theft of cables has become a serious problem for charging station operators, with thieves often cutting them to sell for metal. Since Tesla is the largest owner of electric vehicle charging stations in the United States, it suffers from this problem more often.
Another method to combat thieves is to engrave the inscription «Tesla property».
Just a trial. We’re always exploring options. Supercharger cables will also have “Property of Tesla” engraved from our Buffalo NY factory, so recycling companies shouldn’t accept them and notify us. It’s a scalable, cost-effective solution that doesn’t impact service operations &… pic.twitter.com/pktFK4hXcD
— Max de Zegher (@MdeZegher) February 12, 2025
Technically, copper with an engraved company name should not be accepted, but not everyone follows these rules (otherwise, the inscription can simply be melted with a blowtorch).
«When I worked for AT&T in Northern California, the thieves would buy the same truck as us and even dress the same way. They would cut the cable, throw it in a ditch and burn the sheath, and then sell the copper cable with AT&T engraved on it. They would even report the failure, wait for it to be replaced before stealing it again,» one of the readers of the Electrek website shares his experience.