Taking stock of cable theft in the UK
To compile the damage bill, responses to a freedom of information (FOI) request from over 30 police forces across the country were aggregated, revealing more than 200 instances of theft and vandalism against EV chargers between 2022 and mid-2025.
The FOI request was sent by EV chargepoint operator Allego UK. Furthermore, the company warned that these figures could be the “tip of the iceberg” of the true extent of chargepoint-related crime, as many incidents go unreported, and 40% of forces which received the FOI were unable to provide data or did not hold the relevant records.
The crime is not particularly high-reward, as only around £20 worth of copper is estimated to be located in each. Repair costs, however, are far higher. The areas most affected by cable theft were Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire, with over 100 reported cases of vandalism between them since 2022.
“Unfortunately, we believe this to be a much more serious problem than the figures indicate,” said Paz Sharma, managing director of Allego UK. “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 twenty charging sites are being targeted.”
He further elaborates: “While we are far from crisis mode, this research is a warning sign that 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.”
In Germany, cable theft has also been a growing issue, where an investigation by electrive showed that since the beginning of 2025 alone, EnBW has recorded cases of cable theft at around 120 locations. In monetary terms, the total damage to the energy company and charge point operator EnBW runs into a single-digit million figure.
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