Sometimes a new partnership does not begin with a grand vision, but with a very specific question: How can a high-performance cable be safely routed into a charging station when every millimetre counts inside the enclosure?
This was exactly the challenge faced by Alveri GmbH from Ried im Innkreis. The Austrian company develops its own solutions for electric mobility and charging infrastructure. What began as a small start-up in 2019 has since developed into an established company. “We are on a sustainable growth path,” says design engineer Robert Stöger.
As a Charge Point Operator, Alveri operates the largest charging network in Ried im Innkreis and is expanding its activities into the Schärding district and other municipalities. Its focus is not only on operating charging points, but also on developing its own technical solutions. These include CHARdi, a system for scaling charging infrastructure, and CHARbo, a mobile, rail-guided charging robot.
A charging station with specific requirements
For the development of a new charging station, the Alveri team was looking for a cable gland that could combine several requirements. It needed to provide reliable sealing, have a highly compact design and offer a sufficiently generous clamping range for the cable being used.
There was also a regulatory requirement to consider: Depending on the cable cross-section and current rating, the cable entry needed to provide a defined strain relief of up to 750 newtons. It was therefore clear that the task was not simply to find any cable gland. The team was looking for a solution that could be sensibly integrated into the overall design of the charging station.
The initial contact with PFLITSCH was made at an industry event in Vienna. There, the Alveri team became aware of PFLITSCH cable glands. Through the Austrian sales partner LiveElectric, this developed into a concrete collaboration.
Two functions, one cost-effective solution
During the technical discussions, it became clear that strain relief and sealing did not necessarily have to be provided by a single component. Alveri therefore developed a separate strain relief for the cable entry at short notice. This allowed the PFLITSCH cable gland to focus on one central task: reliably sealing the enclosure.
This functional separation created valuable design flexibility. Instead of using a larger and more complex solution, a more cost-effective product variant could be selected without compromising the compact design of the charging station. The choice fell on the blueglobe M40. It offered exactly the combination required for the design.
“The advantages lie in the compact design, the generous clamping range and the value for money.”, says Robert Stöger, design engineer at Alveri.
The clamping range was particularly decisive. For the required cable dimensions, comparable cable glands from other manufacturers would already have required an M50 size. The blueglobe covers the same range in the smaller M40 size.
Smaller component, greater freedom
On paper, the difference between M40 and M50 may initially seem minor. In a compact charging station, however, it can have far-reaching consequences. A larger cable gland not only requires more space. It also affects the design of the enclosure and may necessitate further modifications to the construction.
With the blueglobe M40, the cable entry can be designed in a much more discreet way. At the same time, Alveri avoids having to switch to a larger size. The result is a space-saving and cost-efficient design in which the cable gland reliably fulfils its purpose without becoming a prominent visual feature.
This is where the solution delivers its specific benefit: A comparatively small component helps bring available space, design and cost-effectiveness into balance.
From product enquiry to development project
However, the story does not end with the solution currently in use. The collaboration between Alveri and PFLITSCH has since extended beyond the current project.
PFLITSCH is developing a new cable gland that is to be certified according to the standards relevant to the application. The corresponding tests with TÜV are currently being prepared.
The project shows that good solutions emerge through dialogue
The project began with the search for a suitable cable gland. It developed into a collaboration in which both parties considered the complete installation situation and coordinated the individual functions in a meaningful way. For Robert Stöger, the product itself is not the only decisive factor. He describes the collaboration with PFLITSCH and its Austrian sales partner LiveElectric as “very accommodating and committed”.
The example shows that the best technical solution is not necessarily the largest or most complex one. Sometimes it is simply exactly as large as it needs to be.
ABOUT ALVERI
Based in Ried im Innkreis in Upper Austria, Alveri GmbH develops solutions for electric mobility and charging infrastructure. The company combines digital services with in-house hardware development and is pursuing a sustainable growth path.
