‘More must to be done’ to make charging accessible for all

The UK’s public charging providers have been urged to ensure their facilities are accessible to all drivers as the country’s network expands rapidly.

New figures from industry body ChargeUK

revealed that there are almost as many chargers as there are EVs in the country, but Motability Operations said that accessibility remains a concern for disabled drivers.

The organisation which runs the Motability Scheme for disabled motorists pointed out that a large number of its customers are reliant on the public charging network and face challenges with the size of bays, the design of chargers and street furniture blocking access.

The body currently represents 760,000 disabled drivers and a quarter of the UK’s EV registrations up to April 2024 were through the Motability scheme. It estimates that there will be 2.7 million disabled drivers in the UK by 2035, and up to 50% of these people will be wholly or partially reliant on public charging infrastructure.

Andrew Miller, CEO of Motability Operations said: “It’s good to see that the charging infrastructure sector is reported to be on track to deliver a robust electric vehicle charging network by 2030, but we agree there is still more work to be done.

“We know that the accessibility and affordability of EV charging are major concerns for our scheme customers. Many do not have the ability to charge at home, and public infrastructure is often inaccessible to disabled drivers due to narrow parking spaces, lack of dropped kerbs and heavy charging cables. Payment systems can also be complicated and confusing.

“We must work together to share information and insight, to develop solutions, to shape policy, and to change the public narrative. We believe if the switch to electric works for our customers, it will work for everyone.”

The Motability Foundation says it is working to ensure that every public chargepoint is accessible to disabled people. It has conducted wide-reaching research into the barriers disabled people face when using public charging sites and co-sponsored the BSI PAS 1899 accessibility standard for public EV chargepoints. This voluntary standard sets out a minimum accessible standard for all types of chargepoint and was developed by experts working with disabled people, industry bodies, manufacturers, chargepoint operators and disability advocacy groups. The Foundation says it wants to see it gradually become a mandatory standard for new chargers.