copper theft from EV charging stations in France, Digi Mart USA News: Car owners and operators are increasingly facing stations rendered inoperative, with charging cables cut cleanly at the base of the terminals. What was once considered opportunistic vandalism now appears to have taken on an industrial dimension, according to the French news outlet BFM.
According to the latest tally published Tuesday, November 3, by the professional association Charge France, 850 charging sites have been targeted since January. That represents damage to about 10% of the country’s fast-charging network.
For operators including Electra, TotalEnergies, Driveco and Powerdot, the total bill reaches 18 million euros.
Thieves receive a meager return per stolen cable, roughly 30 to 80 euros in raw material when resold to a scrap dealer. For the companies affected, repairing a charging terminal can cost between 1,500 and 8,000 euros depending on the equipment.
The damage extends beyond hardware, including lost revenue from unavailable stations, declining driver confidence over the risk of “ghost stations” on highways, and rising insurance deductibles.
Gautier Chatelus, president of Driveco, said attacks have become nearly weekly. “On our network of more than 450 stations, we observe almost every week one or more cable theft incidents,” he said.
“These acts have a direct impact on the service we provide to our customers: a station that is hit can no longer operate fully.”
Surveillance footage captured at stations shows night-time crews using battery-powered portable hydraulic cable cutters and angle grinders. In February 2026, Aurélien de Meaux, co-founder of Electra, posted a striking video example on LinkedIn.
Jean-Pierre Cloez, a delegate of the Alliance Police Nationale union, described the method: “It can be cut quickly and is easy to transport. You don’t need a huge logistics operation.
Unlike the past, when they stole large copper reels and needed a truck, now a light vehicle, or sometimes even a scooter and a backpack, is enough to steal cables like these.”
Physical protections have shown their limits. Several stations fitted with reinforced sheathing were cut through without apparent difficulty.
In response, operators are strengthening their equipment. Chatelus said Driveco is progressively deploying Kevlar protective sheathing around cables, integrating GSM chips, across all of its stations.
The attacks weigh heavily on service continuity, as 71% of 100% electric vehicle users depend on the public network for their travel, according to an Enedis-CSA survey published in October 2026. Xavier Bourrat, TotalEnergies regional director for Hauts-de-France, told BFM Lille that cables can be replaced in about two weeks, adding that users are the first to be affected.
Law enforcement and courts have intensified their response. Charge France counts 15 people placed under formal investigation since the start of the year, seven of them in September and October alone.
Sentences have grown more severe, with prison terms and detention orders handed down by courts in Toulouse, Troyes and Nantes, including up to two years in prison, bans from French territory of up to ten years, and full reimbursement of damages to victim operators.
The situation comes as France passed 40,000 fast-charging points at the end of September 2026. Ahead of the 2027 presidential election campaign, Charge France is calling for clear commitments from candidates and immediate action from the Interior and Justice ministries.
Matthieu Dischamps, secretary general of Charge France and CEO of Powerdot, said: “We cannot ask French people to switch to electric and leave them facing charging points made unusable by theft.”
To stop the phenomenon, the association recommends a three-part action plan: centralizing procedures among prosecutors’ offices to dismantle organized networks, increased inspections of scrap dealers to close copper resale channels, and rapid police interventions triggered by connected alarms on charging terminals.
