According to the UK Equality Act 2010, it’s illegal to discriminate against individuals with disabilities. Why then, do so lots of companies and organisations involved in the installation of new EV infrastructure seem oblivious to that responsibility?
Whether you look at facilities supplied by national charging networks, retailers, automobile park companies or local authorities, the picture is the same. There’s been a systematic failure to anticipate disabled needs when installing charging infrastructure, and there’s no government guideline as a back-stop to make sure disabled needs are met.
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We’ve spoke to a range of charity and mobility organisations, who all paint a bleak picture of the current state of the EV market from an accessibility perspective, and point to an urgent need for action so the UK’s 14 million disabled people aren’t left behind.
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To get a feel for the issue, we accompanied charity Disabled Motoring UK on an audit of Brighton and Hove City Council’s public charging points. The auditing team highlighted a large range of challenges faced by disabled motorists using Brighton’s (government grant-funded) chargers, ranging from bays that are too small for unloading wheelchairs, narrow obstructed pavements and a lack of dropped kerbs that made it tough to get close to the charging equipment even when unloading was possible.
