Sick of attending to an electrical automobile (EV) charging station, solely to seek out the cables have been minimize off by thieves seeking to steal copper inside?
Evie Networks, considered one of Australia’s largest EV charging suppliers, is rolling out an answer: CableGuard protectors from a UK firm known as Components Area.
CarExpert first noticed the cable protectors at Evie’s Chelsea location in Melbourne, and Evie has confirmed it has additionally launched CableGuard at 5 different places together with Toowoomba, Queensland and Bayside, Victoria, with the opposite places being within the Dandenong area.
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“Ensuring our chargers are there once you want them is what issues most to us, so we’re taking motion after some current cable theft hit our community, notably round Dandenong in Victoria,” stated Evie CEO Geoff Brady in a press release.
“We’ve checked out what’s labored abroad to cease copper theft and we’re now trialing CableGuard know-how – basically a protecting mesh across the cables – at six websites to maintain issues operating easily for our clients.
“We’re teaming up with authorities and others within the business to sort out this drawback and be sure to can preserve charging with out disruption.”
Components Area says that making an attempt to chop right into a cable wrapped in CableGuard will launch a forensically traceable liquid – saved at 1450psi – which it claims will immediately hyperlink you to this particular location.
This glows beneath UV gentle and is recorded on a shared database utilized by police and safety companions.
The CableGuard sleeve additionally contains cut-proof supplies and GPS monitoring functionality.
Its maker says it provides “negligible” weight to a cable and doesn’t have an effect on its flexibility, whereas it wraps round an current cable with out it needing to be eliminated.
All of this further safety is to guard the copper inside, a cloth that has been rising in worth and due to this fact attracting thieves who in flip promote it to copper recyclers.
Different corporations which have developed anti-theft know-how for cables embrace CatStrap, which has a variety of cable guards and likewise affords an exploding dye add-on known as DyeDefender that sprays blue dye on thieves when it’s minimize, making them simpler to establish.
Cable theft is a rising situation in Australia, with our nation becoming a member of the likes of the UK, Germany and the US in dealing with this drawback.
In July 2024, Automotive Information reported 129 charging cables had been stolen from Electrify America charging stations throughout the US within the first 5 months of the 12 months, greater than in your entire 2023 calendar 12 months (125).
Electrify America has one of many largest charging networks within the US, and says minimize cables price US$2000 to US$4000 (~A$3000-$6000) to switch.
Final October, EnBW reported greater than 900 instances of cable theft throughout greater than 130 fast-charging websites in Germany.
However regardless of the rise of copper theft, consultants have questioned the viability of taking the time to vandalise EV chargers, strip the copper from cables, then discover a purchaser – with out being caught by police, all for a modest revenue.
“It’s fully Sisyphean to attempt to get cash out of coated, small wires,” Flo EV Charging’s chief authorized and public affairs officer Travis Allan instructed Automotive Information in 2024.
“A normal Stage 2 charging station with a 25-foot (7.6m) cable has about 5 kilos (2.27kg) of copper.
“The copper is encased in critical insulation, so that you don’t really get uncooked copper.”
German supplier EnBW additionally warned thieves it’s hardly a profitable endeavour, claiming there’s 4-10kg of copper in a cable, which leads to round 50 euros (A$86) per cable when resold.
MORE: Public EV fast-charger vandalism on the rise in Australia
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