Why accessible public charging is crucial to a successful EV rollout

Electric vehicles will play a fundamental role in reducing transport-related emissions in the coming years.

Industry momentum is building, with a number of major economies gearing up for the mass roll-out of electric vehicles and electric car sales set to reach a record 6.6 million by 2021, according to the International Development Agency. ‘Energy.

Not all countries will move at the same pace in the planned transition to low- and zero-emission mobility, and the transition away from fossil fuel-powered cars will not always be smooth.

There are concerns, for example, that the lower noise levels of electric vehicles could pose a challenge for the visually impaired, while talk of a skills gap is sparking discussions about cost and safety.

Charging infrastructure is another area to consider, as building large networks will be crucial to allaying fears about range anxiety. Equally important is making sure these electric vehicle chargers are accessible to everyone.

According to the charity Motability, the UK will have an estimated 2.7 million disabled drivers by 2035.

Up to 1.35 million of that group, he says, “will be at least partially or fully dependent on public charging infrastructure.”

The year 2035 is considered particularly important because that’s when the UK government wants all new cars and vans to have zero tailpipe emissions.

A person with a disability who wants to use an electric vehicle charger today faces “inaccessibility at many different points along the process,” Catherine Marris, head of innovation at Motability, told CNBC.

These challenges start when one leaves home to use a public charger, he added.

“If they want to go to an app, for example, to see where chargers are, there’s usually no information available about which chargers might be more accessible,” Marris said.

“Then when they get to a charging point, there may not be clear signage and information about where the charging points are.”

The built environment around the cargo bay could also create difficulties. “There may not be enough room around the cargo bay to get out of your vehicle,” Marris said.

“If you’re using a mobility aid, there might be a very high, raised curb that … someone would have to ride to get up to the sidewalk.”

“The loading point itself may be surrounded by bollards that are not properly spaced, so … if you use a mobility aid or a wheelchair, you wouldn’t be able to get to the loading point.”

Marris told CNBC that a charging point can also be “too high for a seated user, it can be too low for someone who might have difficulty reaching it.”

Ensuring that electric vehicle chargers are accessible to everyone is an important task, and organizations such as Motability are making efforts to create the conditions for change.

In collaboration with the UK government’s Office of Zero Emission Vehicles, it commissioned the British Standards Institution to develop a “national accessible charging standard for electric vehicle charging points”.

PAS 1899:2022, as it’s known, was published in October 2022 and covers everything from curb height and location of load kits, to bollard spacing and point height of charge

“There was a year-long process where industry … accessibility experts and people with disabilities came together and developed the standard through consensus as a group,” Marris said.

He went on to describe the final product as “a really powerful document that sets out exactly what accessible charging is and how it can be achieved”.

Another charity, Designability, was included in a steering group to help inform PAS 1899:2022. Separately, it received funding from Motability to develop a design guide for those involved in the cargo industry.

The guide covers three main areas: signage and information; the built environment; and the process of loading a vehicle.

“We took a deep dive into the areas that were really difficult,” Matt Ford, director of design and innovation at Designability, told CNBC.

“It’s out there, it’s free, it’s out there for anyone involved in vehicle charging,” he said.

Having a design guide and standard like PAS 1899 is one thing. Getting charging stations that actually incorporate accessible features is another.

In February 2023, Tanni Grey-Thompson, a wheelchair user who won multiple Paralympic gold medals, highlighted the issue when she tweeted a photo of electric vehicle chargers from the company InstaVolt with the caption : “That’s why I can’t switch. to an electric car.”

Expanding on his point, Grey-Thompson, who sits in the UK House of Lords, he tweeted about the lack of space on either side and how he couldn’t “get close enough to reach.”

In a statement to CNBC, InstaVolt chief executive Adrian Keen said it is “committed to cooperating with the requirements outlined in the PAS1899 consultation, while taking into account direct feedback from charging point users, to improve the accessibility of the InstaVolt sites.”

“We are in contact with Tanni Grey-Thompson to discuss the work we are doing in the space, the challenges users are facing and how this may influence our site designs going forward,” he added.

“We recognize that change is required across the industry and are taking steps to ensure we offer accessible places where we can.”

“In addition, we have completely redesigned our loaders based on the PAS1899 guide, and these will be installed in new locations starting in the spring,” Keen said.

This unit has now incorporated a number of features, including longer cables, lower screens and payment terminals, as well as what Keen called “an improved cable management system, to allow better charger accessibility.”

InstaVolt’s plans represent a step in the right direction, but there’s still a lot of work ahead.

Designability’s Ford explained that a PAS, or a publicly available specification, “is not an official standard, it has not been adopted into legislation. It is not … a regulation.”

“But by creating a standard, by going through a robust process with the British Standards Institute, by having a steering group of stakeholders from across industry and the disability community… what you have is a standard that it’s a very good model for making charging points accessible.”

That standard became “really powerful” when local authorities began incorporating it into procurement forms for companies bidding to install charging facilities, Ford said.

“It is being adopted, as far as we can see, very quickly, not only by the councils [but] … hotel chains, large companies [as well].”

UK organizations such as Motability and Designability are not alone in seeking to develop accessibility-focused ideas and designs.

In July 2022, the US Accessibility Board, an independent federal agency, issued design recommendations for accessible charging stations.

And in December 2022, the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia announced it was launching a trial focused on creating “access standards for disabled people seeking to use electric vehicle charging infrastructure”.

The IEA, seen by many as an authoritative voice on the energy transition, describes electric vehicles as “the key technology to decarbonise road transport”.

To achieve this massive decarbonisation, a huge network of public chargers will be needed in the coming years.

For charities like Designability, this represents a huge opportunity to put accessibility at the heart of charging networks. “It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity … once an infrastructure goes in, it’s very difficult to affect it,” Ford said.

For his part, Motability’s Marris said he strongly believes that “100% of charging points should be accessible”.

“Not only because we want people with disabilities to charge at any charging point they find, not just a select few, but accessibility is great for everyone.”

“If you’re a person with a disability, if you’re a senior, if you’re a parent pushing a stroller and you need more space, accessibility really translates into a better consumer experience.”