Electric cars and the EV charging infrastructure must be suitable for vulnerable drivers and drivers with disabilities. So what are the challenges for drivers with disabilities who are looking to buy an EV right now, and what needs to be done to make the transition to a plug-in future fully inclusive for all motorists?
Electric cars are, for the most part, a very convenient way to travel, but there are additional concerns for drivers with disabilities who may be considering the jump to an EV (electric vehicle).
Electric cars themselves can be just easily converted as any other car to cater for drivers with disabilities. Catherine Morris, head of innovation for Motability – a charity that runs a nationwide scheme that lets drivers with disabilities exchange mobility benefits to help lease a car – told CarGurus that “the Motability Scheme currently offers over 133 models with CO2 emissions of 100g/km or less, including a range of fully electric and hybrid models at £0 Advance Payment.”
Demand for these cars is high, too. As of autumn 2021, nearly a quarter of applications to the Motability scheme were for alternative-fuel vehicles including hybrids and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), with 6 per cent of those applications being for pure electric cars. Some of the EVs available on the Motability Scheme include the MG ZS and MG5 EV, Nissan Leaf, Mini Electric and Volkswagen ID.3.
The Convenience of Electric Power
In many cases running an EV might even promise increased convenience for drivers with disabilties, given the ability to charge at home and reduce visits to the petrol station.
However, even for drivers without any disabilities, the big concern with electric cars remains access to public fast chargers and the reliability of those chargers. These concerns are further concentrated for drivers with disabilities, who face a public charging network that has not been designed for accessibility or ease of use until very recently.
Thankfully, the Department for Transport agrees, and has commissioned the British Standards Institute (BSI) to come up with new guidelines for public charge point accessibility by 2022.
In the meantime, heavy cables, and even plugs that require a significant amount of force to be connected are a genuine difficulty for some motorists. More than that, according to Catherine Morris of Motability, there are “high kerbs or no dropped kerbs around the charge point; tight spaces with little consideration for the larger vehicle size of many disabled drivers and passengers; and bollards that make it difficult for wheelchair or mobility aid users to access the charge point. All of these issues pose challenges for people living with disabilities.”
How to Make Public Charging Points Accessible for All
The need to make charging points more suitable for drivers with disabilities is now a critical priority if the charging infrastructure is to be inclusive for all, not least as the infrastructure is growing and evolving so fast.
Chris Pateman-Jones is CEO of Connected Kerb, a charge provider that specialises in providing ‘long dwell’ kerbside public charging for those who may not have a driveway to charge on. He explains that “at the most basic level, charge point operators (CPOs) should ensure that accessible chargers are labelled on charger location apps. At a physical level, CPOs should consider the design of parking bays, with the positioning of bollards and wheel blocks as well as the space allocated at the side and front of bays for the movement of drivers around a vehicle. Finally, CPOs should also consider vulnerable users as well as those with disabilities – for example in lighting and safety.”
Pateman-Jones also points out that, in the longer term, inductive charging could play a useful part in making public charging more convenient for drivers with disabilities. “Wireless charging certainly has potential for this user group. However, the challenge is in adapting vehicles and deploying infrastructure, as it is a chicken and egg scenario – charge providers won’t deploy the infrastructure (even if they have the capability, which most don’t) until the auto industry includes the technical capability within vehicles.”
Tom Callow, Head of Insight and External Affairs at bp pulse, echoes many of those same points. He says that “while we have a number of charge points in accessible parking bays across our network, including at least one accessible bay wherever we deploy ultra-fast chargers on bp forecourts, it’s important that we continue to make improvements right now and don’t simply wait for the BSI standards to be set next year before taking action.
“The UK public charging network will have grown enormously by then and, while bp pulse is looking at deploying dropped kerbs and other improvements to existing charger locations where possible, we’re also taking such measures into account when planning new installations. This includes everything from the positioning of the charger itself – we’re looking at the impact of rotating some of them 90 degrees, for instance – to improving the data accessibility on charging apps to include up-to-date photos and chargepoint layouts.”
What to Look for in an EV if You’re a Driver with a Disability
In essence, electric cars themselves are typically very easy to drive and convert for disabled use, and can make brilliantly convenient transport. Consider where the charging socket is located on the EV you’re considering, too, as it may make life easier to have the charging socket on the nose of the car – as is the case on the Nissan Leaf and MG ZS EV, for instance - if you need easy access to the boot for wheelchairs.
However, the public charging infrastructure is only now starting to respond to the need to accommodate vulnerable and less able-bodied motorists, and if you are likely to need regular use of public chargers but may struggle with restrictive charging bay layouts, you would be wise to wait for improvements to arrive before taking the plunge.
The good news is that the recent announcement regards forthcoming British Standards Institute regulations heralds imminent changes for the better. Coupled with a widespread improvement in the availability, reliability and ease of use that is already beginning to show across the UK, it shouldn’t be long before the public charging infrastructure will be substantially more accessible.