In the drive to accelerate EV ownership, against a background where insufficient on-street charging is being cited as the UK’s biggest challenge to EV adoption, and where six million car owners have no driveway, step forward D-Line.
The UK cable management specialist has developed the patent pending Ultra Cable Cover for stakeholders seeking a convenient and inexpensive solution for on-street EV charging. The Highways Act 1980 makes anyone who places a cable or similar across a pathway, in a way likely to cause a danger, without giving adequate warning of the danger, liable for up to a £1,000 fine.
Not wanting to trip up on cable litigation risks, the conundrum is evident in ‘imaginative’ responses. These include schemes by lamp-post charge providers, and others needing to levy tariff premiums on EV owners, to payback significant investment costs in the new infrastructure. Consider the disruption too of having streets ripped up to accommodate charging bollards! At least hangman-style overhead apparatus, however impractical, can enable draws from residential tariffs.
D-Line recognises also how expensive steel gulley options have no doubt inspired alternative ducts, some with hinged lids, intended as a conduit for kerbside charging. Aside from the user mobility required to open the lid-cover for cable insert, consider how narrow terraced streets often require car parkers to straddle the pathway.
These car owners demand versatility for their EV cable to exit over the pathway, left-or-right side according to vehicle location, with any lid that protrudes around the cable being a danger.
An accident waiting to happen?
With seemingly no practical options to safely contain EV cables (up to 18mm diameter), some authorities are overlooking that traditional cable protectors are usually rigid and inflexible, often over 40mm high with 40˚ incline slopes, and easy to open lids. While these can protect a cable, to pedestrians they can be accidents waiting to happen.
Court judges have stated that ‘footpaths are not expected to be as smooth as bowling greens’, but any step obstacle higher than 20mm threshold brings obvious danger.
D-Line’s Ultra Cable Cover addresses all such reservations, being produced from a flexible material that is ‘pavement-friendly’ to follow sloping paths and easily cut to shorten if needed. It is ‘user-friendly’ too, and uniquely reversible.
Cables can be covered by the solid top when rolled out, or the cavity can be open-top style. Open-top allows cables to be easily pushed-in and pulled-out from standing position, enabling cable exit from left-side or right-side, according to vehicle position. The Ultra Cable Protector can be screw-fixed for security, or stored in coil form if used temporarily. The pedestrian friendly 8˚ slope is so shallow that the step is hardly noticeable, being less than 20mm height when cable is inserted. In open-top, the cavity closes to only 10mm aperture on cable removal.
While homeowners should confirm usage permissions from local authorities, EV charge point installers are still prudent to seek from customers a disclaimer from any cable trip liability. The Ultra Cable Cover does, however, give utmost respect to all.
Available in black or grey options, every 2 metre length has yellow hazard stripes and every length is supplied with a hazard warning sign for easy hook-and-loop attachment around the cable. The Ultra can save need for cable path groundworks on private land, with obvious benefits for use in all areas where cables cross with busy foot traffic.
Get more details on the D-Line Ultra Cable Cover here
