Joe Gorman, senior director, Northern Europe, ChargePoint, responds to media reports of cable theft in the UK and spotlights latest solutions.
Joe Gorman, senior director, Northern Europe, ChargePoint
Many of the automotive industry’s greatest innovations were so significant that they were shared with the rest of the world. There have been numerous examples over the years; creative design and engineering which solved the most important technical and societal issues of the day, and which improved driving for everybody, not just a select few. Let me share details of what we at ChargePoint believe is another.
The lifeblood of the electric vehicle revolution is the availability and reliability of the charging infrastructure, whether at home or on the go. And the cables of those charging units, particularly their copper, have become a target for criminals. It’s been widely reported in the trade and consumer press in the last week, following a series of Freedom of Information requests sent out to the UK’s police forces. A study has revealed more than 200 instances of cables being stolen from EV chargers, with thieves hacking the leads away to sell the metal they contain for scrap.
No surprise that it’s significantly impacting the user experience for EV drivers of all types. A non-functioning unit due to the lack of a cable adds unnecessary friction to EV adoption, standing between the driver and a cleaner, more sustainable, transport method.
Concerns about charger reliability are already a challenge for EV adoption, and issues such as copper cable theft only add to that insecurity. The real impact isn’t the cost of replacing stolen copper, it’s the disruption to charging availability.
We do not view ourselves as victims of vandalism, but rather responsible for solving it – not only for our customers but for the industry as a whole. To address vandalism and reliability concerns, ChargePoint is deploying advanced technology designed to prevent these incidents and ensure charging remains available for all EV drivers.
Since early 2024, ChargePoint has enabled drivers to access over a million charging locations across the UK, Europe and North America, with many stations remotely monitored. This means cable theft is detected immediately, allowing for a quick and appropriate response.
Remote monitoring is a vital part of the oversight of the charging network, but it’s reactive. What’s also needed is a robust and visible proactive deterrent, and ChargePoint has gone some way to delivering that.
In January this year, ChargePoint introduced the industry’s first cut-resistant charging cabling. Using 15+ years of EV charging know-how, it deters theft and vandalism by using innovative materials within the cable itself to make it substantially more difficult for would-be vandals to tamper with. At the same time, we announced ChargePoint Protect, which uses the charger’s existing speakers, screens and lighting system to create a highly effective alarm.
ChargePoint Protect will work on most existing commercial charger models
The new cut-resistant cable can be retrofitted on certain AC and DC commercial and fleet charging stations, maximising the return on the initial investment of the network.
And ChargePoint Protect will work on most existing commercial charger models and will shortly be delivered as a free over-the-air update to station owners. In combination, these innovations give confidence and security to existing charge point operators, as well as new players investing in the sector.
We believe our new hi-tech cable is one of the most significant automotive innovations of recent times and so we plan to share the technology.
Recognising the importance of the reliability of the global charging infrastructure to accelerate the adoption of EVs, we’re not going to keep this to ourselves.