Patent ID: 8519839

Claim:
A charge cord theft alarm system associated with a charge cord of a plug-in vehicle, the system comprising: a charging port mounted on the plug-in vehicle and configured to couple the charge cord to the plug-in vehicle; a sensor configured to evaluate a status of the charge cord, including a coupled status when the charge cord is coupled to the vehicle and a decoupled status when the charge cord is not coupled to the vehicle, the sensor being arranged proximate to the charging port; and an alarm interface coupled to the sensor and configured to selectively operate in an armed state or a disarmed state, wherein, when the alarm interface is in the armed state and the sensor indicates that the charge cord is in the coupled status, the alarm interface is configured to not activate an alarm, when the alarm interface is in the armed state and the sensor indicates that the charge cord is in the decoupled status, the alarm interface is configured to activate the alarm, when the alarm interface is in the disarmed state and the sensor indicates that the charge cord is in the coupled status, the alarm interface is configured to not activate the alarm, and when the alarm interface is in the disarmed state and the sensor indicates that the charge cord is in the decoupled status, the alarm interface is configured to not activate the alarm.