Evolt Charging distributes CatStrap cable theft protection

CatStrap gained notoriety online at the beginning of the year when news spread that Tesla was testing a CatStrap system called Dye Defender to protect the cables of its Superchargers. If a thief attempts to cut through the specially prepared protective cover of a charging cable to get to the actual cable, a special type of ink is sprayed at the perpetrator. 

However, the partnership between the British company Evolt Charging and CatStrap does not involve this solution, but rather a conventional cable protector called EV Cable Protector. This is slipped over the regular fast-charging cable and has a hardened steel barrier designed to prevent the cable from being cut. As can be seen in press photos, British petrol station operator and charging provider MFG is already using the cable protection.

The cover has two 30-mm-wide, flexible steel strips running along the cable, hardened to a Rockwell hardness of 55 HRC. According to CatStrap, this is more robust than most cutting blades. This is intended to blunt thieves’ tools and cause them to break before they can cut through the cable. Even after three minutes of cutting, 90 per cent of the cable should still be intact. Three hose clamps are also used as additional protection, locking the protective cover in place at several points.

“We’re proud to partner with Evolt Charging to bring our EV Cable Protector technology to the UK,” said David Birsen, Vice President of CatStrap. “After protecting thousands of public chargers across North America in high-theft areas with virtually 100% success, we’re excited to extend that protection to UK operators. Evolt’s nationwide service capability, operational excellence, and expertise in charge point hardware make them the ideal partner to ensure consistent, high-quality installations and successful implementation of our products.”

Evolt Charging builds charging infrastructure on behalf of various CPOs and also takes care of maintenance. In January, the company had already introduced an alarm system to prevent cable theft. Just a few days ago, it was reported that over 200 cases of charging cable theft had recently been recorded in the UK, resulting in millions in damages. The problem is also enormous in Germany: market leader EnBW alone has reported hundreds of damaged charging stations and millions in damages since the beginning of the year.

evoltcharging.co.uk, catstrap.net 

This article was first published by Florian Treiß for electrive’s German edition.