I-Miev got broken into with charger stolen!

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kitkit

Active member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Messages
29
Location
San Francisco, CA
I live in San Francisco, CA with no garage so I am charging my I-Miev on the sidewalk outside of our house. This morning (at 1230am) I forgot to lock my door (yes my carelessness!) and someone just got into my car and went through everything inside. The thief took a garage remote belongs to my parent's house and my I-Miev charger (2014 model with 8A or 12A selectable switch)!!

I immediately went to my local police station and filed a police report. I also called a dealership in Oakland and they quoted me $1,423 + tax for a new charger kit!

The lucky thing is a few hours later, my wife found the charger separated from the bag lying at my neighbor's porch! Apparently, the thief took the charger out of the car but did not know its value or what to do with it, so he/she decided to dump it close by our house. I am so relieved! Even though I use a Level 2 charging station most of the time, it's nice to have a spare inside the car.

I notice that the I-Miev does not make any sound when I press the "lock" button on the remote. I will make sure that it's locked before I walk away from the car next time.
 
You do have the option to program it to beep the horn once if you double click the lock button - It also blinks the parking lights when you lock or unlock it

Don
 
Sorry to hear that. Lucky that you were able to get your cord back, though I would immediately find a way to change the codes on that garage door opener to keep the remote from working.

In the manual, it explains the process to get the key lock button behavior to change. There are options for no beep (default), beep on first press, and beep on second press. A fourth option is listed, but I've been unable to activate it. Each press of the Lock key results in the turn signals and dome lights blinking once as long as all doors are closed. If a door is open, the locks will lock, but there is no flash or beep. Pressing the unlock button flashes the lights twice.

Also, if somebody manages to set off the alarm, the next time you start the car, the alarm light on the dash (just a round red light, no icon) will light up for a few seconds after starting.
 
kitkit said:
I also called a dealership in Oakland and they quoted me $1,423 + tax for a new charger kit!
You can get equivalent units off eBay for ~$200 -- not necessarily the same, but portable level 1 EVSEs, anyway.
 
If you leave the headlight switch set to 'Auto' then the horn will beep once when you lock using the key remote.

Glad you recovered the EVSE--i was thinking to check pawn shops to find it, but your story ended well...
 
kitkit, glad it wasn't worse and that at least you recovered the EVSE. In addition to flashing the turn signals, the car does make a fairly audible 'clunk' when the Lock button is depressed.

By now, I'm sure y'all know the trick of keeping the Mitsu EVSE from walking away while charging:

MitsiChgrLock.jpg


(Doesn't help if the window gets smashed or if one forgets to lock the car... :roll: )
 
kiev said:
If you leave the headlight switch set to 'Auto' then the horn will beep once when you lock using the key remote.

Glad you recovered the EVSE--i was thinking to check pawn shops to find it, but your story ended well...

If it was on your neighbors porch... either they came from that house or they were trying to break in there too !

I did find out that if you "lock" the car with the windows open, the alarm goes off if you reach in to open the door. Course, this doesn't help if you have stuff in arms reach inside.
 
Thanks everyone. I am very lucky to be able to recover the charger this time.

Don said:
You do have the option to program it to beep the horn once if you double click the lock button - It also blinks the parking lights when you lock or unlock it
Thanks for the tip Don. I just finished programming the remote. Now it makes a beep sound when the doors lock.

PV1 said:
Sorry to hear that. Lucky that you were able to get your cord back, though I would immediately find a way to change the codes on that garage door opener to keep the remote from working.
YES. Lucky I did not put my parents' house information inside the car. After making a police report, I immediately went to the house and reset the garage opener. They were out of the country too.
wmcbrine said:
kitkit said:
I also called a dealership in Oakland and they quoted me $1,423 + tax for a new charger kit!
You can get equivalent units off eBay for ~$200 -- not necessarily the same, but portable level 1 EVSEs, anyway.
I was prepared to buy a LV1 Panasonic charger from Ebay for $200. I just wanted to find out how much it cost to get it from the dealer.

kiev said:
If you leave the headlight switch set to 'Auto' then the horn will beep once when you lock using the key remote.
Glad you recovered the EVSE--i was thinking to check pawn shops to find it, but your story ended well...
I was prepared to search local craiglist and pawn shops to see if my charger pops up. Again, I am so lucky not having to pay $200 for a replacement.

JoeS said:
kitkit, glad it wasn't worse and that at least you recovered the EVSE. In addition to flashing the turn signals, the car does make a fairly audible 'clunk' when the Lock button is depressed.
By now, I'm sure y'all know the trick of keeping the Mitsu EVSE from walking away while charging
Don, I have surveillance cameras in front of our house. I also use 4 good locks to lock the portable LV2 EVSEs when I am charging outside of the house :)
 
I take a lock and cable and put it thru the tire rim on my plug-in Prius. Then take the power cord and put that thru the lock loop and lock it. Now the power cord is locked outside the car to the tire.

I just tried the lock on my i car and it actually fits in one spoke in the rim, eliminating the need for the cable. Just find a lock that fits in the spoke and has room to have the power cord run thru the lock loop.

Now when they steal the charger they get one tire and rim!!!!!!! (Hope not)
 
I lock the EVSE box in the hatch with the cables running out underneath the hatch. If I'm really feeling paranoid, I'll also lock the J1772 to the car. There is a small opening in the button on the handle of the stock cord.
 
I just noticed that my J plug has a small hole under the button where you push to disconnect from the car.
I read somewhere that you can get a small luggage lock and it fits there. Some people were drilling a small hole for that lock.
Does everyone have this small hole on their EVSE Jplug ?
 
tigger19687 said:
I just noticed that my J plug has a small hole under the button where you push to disconnect from the car.
I read somewhere that you can get a small luggage lock and it fits there. Some people were drilling a small hole for that lock.
Does everyone have this small hole on their EVSE Jplug ?
Yes.
mXNvlJF.jpg

Brass/stainless steel locks work best outside.
 
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