Member Article

Campaign launched to protect EV drivers at the charging point

GripHero, the maker of the world’s only single-item release static-safe hand-protection dispenser, is drawing attention to the importance of protecting the health and wellbeing of EV customers who are prone to picking up contaminants and illness from recharging point handles.

The campaign follows research which reveals that charging points are teaming with germs that have been shown to be transferable to others seven times before leaving the skin.

While the world’s attention has focussed sharply on preventing the spread of Covid-19, other illnesses, contaminants, biohazards, viruses, and chemicals are commonly passed on from the hand of one EV driver to the next user via the recharging point.

It is for this reason that GripHero has created its surface-mounted hand-protection dispenser, which releases individual items of protection at the point of charging, forming a barrier between hand and external surfaces. With the world’s lowest CO2 footprint for hand-protection, by a huge margin, GripHero’s 100% recycled plastic hand-protection is a no-brainer for environmentally conscious EV drivers. This gives users absolute certainty that they are protecting themselves and their families from picking up super bugs and contaminants from recharging point handles, at minimal cost to the environment.

Worryingly, the research undertaken by Busbud, showed that EV recharging handles carry 7,890 colony forming units per square inch, and are particularly prone to yeast, which can cause skin infections. The study revealed that of the colony forming units encountered, over 5% were gram-negative rods which tend to be resistant to antibiotics and can cause deadly infections such as meningitis and pneumonia.76.29% were gram-positive rods, 1.36% were gram-positive cocci and 22.89% were yeast-based.

Commenting on the campaign, Oli Yeo, inventor and managing director of GripHero, said: “Forecourts are attuned to the idea of protecting motorist from coming into contact with fuel pump handles, as that can result in foul smelling, fuel impregnated hands.

“With EV recharging points, there’s no fuel residue transfer, but that’s far from the full story. Once you realise that hands regularly transfer illness, germs, and contaminants, it becomes clear that it is the general health and wellbeing of all customers that is at stake.

“Covid-19 has highlighted the issue, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. By providing customers with easily accessible hand-protection, the issue of sickness or contaminant transfer is dealt with. That’s because hand-protection creates an immediate barrier between skin and external surface that prevents illness and germs as well as undesirable or dangerous substances from being transferred between drivers who touch the same surface for significant periods of time. Installing hand-protection dispensers is a simple and easy step to protecting motorists in the new post-covid world where the emphasis has to be building back better.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Charley .