See how the City of Baltimore jumps in to repair two vandalized charging stations. Why Baltimore's Vandalized Charging Stations Have Taken Too Long To Fix | PluginCars.com
Shame they didn't have the foresight for vandalism, but I can understand the delay. Running out and getting them fix without a procedure could mean no paper trail and accounting errors. Doing so as a stop gap until there is a procedure can lead employees to using an error prone procedure over the official. Dealing with bureaucracy can be frustrating but there is a method to the madness. A comment to the article also points out that free things just take longer to fix.
The comments after the article were interesting, given that it was on an ostensibly EV/Hybrid-friendly site (plugincars.com) The solution in the short-to-medium term is cameras (if ATMs can have them, why not charging stations?), as well as a sturdier housing for the connector. However, the medium-to-long term solution is wireless (inductive) EV charging. I have seen 2 examples thus far, and both offer L2 charging. - In one, the EV pulls up to 2 "poles" located on either side of the front of the parking space. The power "receivers" on the EV are located on the left and right corners of the front bumper. - In the other, a small, flat "transmitter' is embedded into the pavement, at about the center- rear portion of the parking spot. The EV then pulls in and its systems navigate it to the spot, aligning its "receiver" (approximately between the rear wheels) to this "transmitter" The poles one is probably the easier of the two to park into, so long as it doesn't block a sidewalk or hinder vehicle ingress/egress. Of course, this is all the topic of a different post, but this is the only real viable solution to EV charging in the long term. Unlike a gas station (or even an L3 charger), the EVs are typically left for hours unattended and unobserved by the owner. As a side benefit, the wireless systems would also take away the need to plug and un-plug someone else's car (a.k.a. plug-sharing), and would be 'fool-proof', in that it would be less likely for someone to accidentally damage the components -they can't be dropped like a plug-in connector. Bottom line: fewer accidents, and less vandalism and congestion at EV stations.
Ah, but it's not free. Taxpayers pay for everything from from the electricity to the government employees that are suppose to be doing their jobs and having these things repaired.
But free to use. As in not generating income for the city. If they made some coin on it, it would be fixed.
(sigh . . . . ) apparently, the line of thinking, "gee! ... someone vandalized?!?" is as common as vandals: (from the OP's link) Yea ... imagine that ... vandals in Baltimore (rolling eyes). Next thing they'll be saying there are vandas in Compton ... and Detroit .... um what ... that's crazy talk? It's one thing for joe schmoe to be naive ... it's quite another when I hear city officals act surprised - what with all the broken glass ... graffiti etc that they have to deal with on a daily basis. The pathetic thing is, the municipalities that install EVSE's can (for an additional few hundred bucks) set up CCTV moniters, and get these punks out of society ... make 'em pick up trash along side the road for 8 or 10 months. The city of Orange (here in O.C.) had vandals, and they had to learn the hard way too. It was down for over 5 months prior to being repaired. .
