Electric vehicle charging ‘arms’ require permission

• Published date: 15 April 2024
• Author: OLIVIA KELLY
• Publication title: Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)

Electric vehicle (EV) owners without driveways have largely been reliant on public charging points. However, a Dutch-designed product that projects a charging cable across a footpath at a height of about 2.3m from a post installed on the homeowner’s property, has recently started appearing across Dublin

Nigel Daly, whose company NMD installs and maintains EV charging stations, said the device provides a much safer and neater solution than running cables across the footpath.

“It is a significantly better proposal than people cutting a channel into the footpath and running live cables through it, which we’ve seen. Or people trailing the cable across the path, sometimes with mats over them. Even with mat, it’s a trip hazard, particularly for older people using walkers, and we would point blank refuse to install chargers like that.”

‘Best solution’

Mr Daly said he has so far installed almost 50 charging arms. “These units are safe, they extend at a height that doesn’t pose any safety issues for pedestrians, they are in use in other European counties and in the UK and I think they are the best solution for...