It’s definitely a long read, written as a research document in all it’s finery. Which means a summary could be extracted quite easily if someone can be bothered to read all the way through.
The document was written as a final report in September 2020, which means it’s a fair bit behind where we are now. There was an expansion in the thousands of chargers in the public realm for each of the non-shut down years since this and that number is picking up pace each and every year as manufacturers are increasing their EV offerings. I, personally, feel that this creates doubt to the relevancy of this report to the present situation.
Brief outline is that there is expected to be 2.7 million disabled drivers by 2035, of these 34% will not be able to charge at home and 14% currently have inadequate access to on street charging (which is a known problem).
It also states that the cables for rapid chargers (50kWh+) are too heavy for disabled users, although I feel that this wraps all disabled users up in one lump which is an inaccurate assumption. I know there are people eligible for Motability who can use rapid chargers as well as a lot who won’t be able to lift the cables.
It states that there are no current standards for charger installations to be disability friendly, I’m pretty sure that there’s a BS standard for this set up in consultation (at least) with Motability. It does go on to state that the industry requires legislation to establish how charging infrastructure should be made accessible. Also there will be additional complications for accessibility for on street charging as there are, by definition, kerbs and reduced space.
The Primary Legislation under which companies can be forced to consider disabled users is the Equality Act. At the time of print there were some adjustments being made, like one company regulating the height of the charger socket and screens and one allowing larger spaces for disabled users, although they aren’t obviously marked as both disabled and charging bays.
In all, it’s a lengthy document and had huge relevancy back in 2020, 3 and a bit years later, there are still some relevant points but identifying which ones requires some in depth knowledge of the charger provision throughout the UK.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.
Mark