Over 50 EV charging stations vandalized across Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Across the City of Fresno, 88 electric vehicle charging stations were installed to accommodate the increased number of EV cars on the road.

Each station comes with a hefty price tag.

"A typical cost of a charging station is anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000, depending on the location and the infrastructure necessary to construct the charger," explained Jennifer Clark, the City of Fresno's Director of Planning and Development.

Fast forward to today, dozens of the charging stations have been vandalized leaving them inoperable.

"Out of the 88 that the City of Fresno has, approximately 50-60 have been vandalized, and multiple times as well," said Melissa Almaguer, parking division manager with the City of Fresno.

"The copper wiring, the wiring that provides the power to the station as well as the stations themselves, has a lot of valuable metals in them," added Clark.

But the city does have a plan of action to combat copper wire thieves and to get the EV stations up and running once again.

Each charging station will get a custom steel cabinet built around it with a hockey puck-style lock attached, and it will be locked up each night.

"We do not repair the ones that have been damaged until the steel cabinet has been installed. And then we repair them, but in addition to that, we have also increased our security," added Almaguer.

So far, 50 charging stations have been encased. The additional charging stations are expected to be repaired and working by the summer.

And the cost for the custom cabinets will come out to around $176,000 for all 88 charging stations.

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