% BBC TG's un-plug prediction pontificated %
https://transportevolved.com/2014/10/01/secure-locked-nissan-leaf-charge-cable-proves-boy-comb/
How Secure is Your ‘Locked’ Nissan LEAF Charge Cable? Not Very, Proves Boy
With a Comb
October 1, 2014 By Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
[images
https://d2v41vkldk04pc.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Locking-Pin-580x348.jpg
In 2013 and later model years of the Nissan LEAF, this white locking pin is
designed to prevent cable theft.
https://d2v41vkldk04pc.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Boy-Breaks-EVSE-580x324.jpg
In 2013 and later model years of the Nissan LEAF, this white locking pin is
designed to prevent cable theft.
video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOqkrqg6zds
Nissan Leaf Portable EVSE unlock
François Viau Sep 28, 2014
You can select the english subs. PLEASE SHARE. All Leaf owners should be
aware of this.
Pour voir comment barrer son EVSE efficacement / To see how to secure your
EVSE: visit
http://menu-principal-forums-aveq.1097349.n5.nabble.com/EVSE-Efficace-le-Lock-sur-la-Nissan-Leaf-Video-tp12082.html
]
Easy to stow away in the trunk of your car, portable Electric Vehicle Supply
Equipment (EVSE) ‘bricks’ are lightweight and simple to use. Plug one end
into a nearby electrical outlet and the other end into your car, and your
car will gradually, slowly charge while you get on with the rest of your
day. While a plug-in car takes much longer to charge from a portable EVSE
unit than a dedicated electric vehicle charging station, these units are a
must-have accessory for anyone who travels off the beaten track or happen to
live somewhere without dedicated charging.
Being lightweight and relatively pricey — upwards of $900 in some cases —
OEM portable charging stations are also perfect easy pickings for a passing
thief, prompting many electric car manufacturers to implement locking
designs within their cars’ charger inlet ports in an attempt to thwart
would-be criminals from walking away with the expensive device.
As one Nissan LEAF owner from Quebec discovered however, the locking
mechanisms designed to prevent your car from being unplugged and the cable
stolen aren’t always that secure. What’s worse, the technique thieves used
to steal his car’s portable 110-volt EVSE unit can be replicated by a small
boy with a comb.
Enter François Viau, a French Canadian who had left his Nissan LEAF charging
at work last week only to discover on returning to his car that someone had
stolen his car’s portable EVSE. As well as being frustrated about the loss,
Viau was a little perplexed as to how the portable EVSE had actually been
stolen, since his charge cable had supposedly been secured to the car by a
locking mechanism build into his car’s charge port.
Recent model years of the Nissan LEAF — like some other cars on the market
today — have an optional lock mode which slides a tab across the top of the
J1772 inlet a few seconds after you’ve plugged in a charge cable. The tab is
meant to make it impossible to depress the release latch on the charging
cable gun, making it impossible to unplug the car from the charging unit
without first hitting the charge port unlock button.
We’ve known for some time that certain types of third-party J1772 plug,
specifically ones with a curved, tapered end to the latch can still be
removed from a Nissan LEAF with a supposedly locked inlet charge port.
But what Viau discovered was far more disturbing: namely that the
specifically-designed, sturdy OEM EVSE which comes with the Nissan LEAF can
easily be removed from a locked car with nothing more than a long, slender
tool like a screwdriver, a pencil, or even a hair comb.
It takes just six seconds to retrieve a locked Nissan LEAF charge gun.
As the video below shows, while the locking mechanism on the LEAF’s charge
port can be set to automatically engage seconds after you’ve plugged a
charge cable in, there’s nothing to stop the locking pin from being easily
slid back into the unlocked position.
What’s more, the technique of sliding the locking mechanism back into the
open position is so easy that Viau’s young son demonstrates it in the video,
removing the locked charge cable with nothing more than a hair comb. And he
does so in just six seconds.
“I was surprised to see how easy and fast (the unit) was stolen even if it
was on position LOCK on the charging port,” Viau told us in an email this
morning. “I was curious to see how efficient this anti-theft system was, and
I thought you would be interested to see the result.”
“All Leaf owners should be aware of this.,” he said. To try and make sure
no-one else gets caught out, he’s even collated a set of more secure ways to
keep your charge cable safe on this French-language EV forum.
It’s worth noting of course, that early Nissan LEAFs made between 2010 and
2012 don’t have this particular problem, since car-activated charge port
locking was only introduced for the 2013 model year. As a consequence, those
with a 2011
