Lords back amendment protecting disabled access to EV chargers

Members of the House of Lords have voted in favour of an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which could make charger accessibility standards legally binding.

Peers voted in favour of the Opposition-led amendment after the Government declined to accept the proposed changes during debate.

If passed into law, the amendment will allow the Government to make the PAS 1899 standard legally binding. Currently, the minimum accessibility standards for public chargers are a non-binding set of guidelines.

Accessibility issues

It is estimated that less than 3% of all existing public devices currently meet the PAS 1899 standard. Drivers’ association EVA England has also found that half of all drivers – with or without disabilities – have reported accessibility issues when using public chargers. These included problems with heavy cables, narrow parking bays and screens that are hard to reach or use.

The PAS 1899 guidelines set minimum standards for elements such as the height of components including screens and cable mounts, the design of parking bays and interfaces, and methods to make manoeuvring and connecting cables easier.

The amendment was tabled by Lord Borwick and approved by 228 votes to 113. Speaking in the chamber, Lord Borwick warned that without intervention: “disabled people will see no end to the struggle of charging their cars safely and reliably”.

He added that the amendment was about “fairness and foresight: making sure that as we move to electric driving, no one is left behind”.

Crossbench Peer and Paralympic athlete Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson had previously called for PAS 1899 to be made legally binding and said she was “delighted” that the amendment had been tabled.

She described how the lack of accessible chargepoints had personally prevented her from switching to an EV: “When I tried several times to move to an electric car, it proved impossible. There wasn’t an accessible charging station within at least 30 miles of my house. I was told perhaps I should take someone with me wherever I went to charge it for me.”

Commenting on the amendment’s success, Vicky Edmonds, CEO of EVA England, said: “This is huge for drivers with disabilities. We need to ensure that accessible charging is not left to chance, but is thought about from the very beginning when industry and local authorities are planning, designing and rolling out chargepoints. And this amendment does that.”