ChargePoint has introduced vandal-proof protection for electric vehicle chargers

ChargePoint has announced two solutions to combat charger vandalism. The first is a cut-resistant charging cable. The second is the ChargePoint Protect alarm system with the function of informing the owner of the station about physical impact on the device.

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"The industry's first cut-resistant charging cable," is designed with the expectation that someone would try to damage or steal it. Engineers were tasked with making the cable much more difficult for potential vandals to use, while maintaining flexibility and convenience for drivers to manoeuvre comfortably while using it. ChargePoint mentions the new cut-resistant materials in the cable itself, but prudently does not disclose technical details.

The cut-resistant cables will be available for all ChargePoint commercial and fleet charging stations. In addition, the company intends to selectively licence the cable design to other charging station manufacturers. Licensing is expected to begin by mid-2025.

ChargePoint's second development in securing charging stations is the ChargePoint Protect system. It can detect unauthorised use of the charging cable in real time and automatically trigger an alarm to deter vandals.

ChargePoint Protect can be activated on certain models of charging stations at no additional cost to the company's existing customers via a cloud-based software upgrade. Station owners will be able to receive notifications via SMS or email, speeding up the notification time for law enforcement. ChargePoint expects ChargePoint Protect to be available as early as this month.

ChargePoint noted that these two new solutions combined will benefit charging station owners by reducing the costs of vandalism-related repairs, and the costs to electric vehicle drivers, as they will be able to rest assured that charging stations will operate when and where needed.

Source: ChargePoint