“Once the public, more broadly, starts to see which charger points are easier to use — regardless of whether they have a disability or not — those are going to be the go-to sites,” said Chloe Livingstone, deputy head of stakeholder engagement at the U.K. Office for Zero Emission Vehicles.
Livingstone pointed out the need to keep in mind all groups of drivers when designing charging locations. Those could be groups like the elderly population, or a parent holding a child while they try to manage a charger.
“This is about inclusivity. It’s not just about disability,” Livingstone added, in some of her comments during a webinar to discuss the accessibility of EV chargers. The webinar was organized by Forth Mobility, an EV policy and advocacy group in Portland, Ore. October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
But to be clear, “everyone” especially includes those people with mobility limitations, hearing impairment, as well as less obvious disabilities like attention deficit disorders. And charging locations should be designed and built for these users, say experts, who add that for the most part, today’s chargers tend to fall short.
“It’s really not there at this point, and we need to improve,” said Jeff Dion, senior product director at EV public charging network FLO.
The Office of Technical and Information Services at the U.S. Access Board recently published its design recommendations for the design of EV charging stations to assist public-sector agencies and private-sector companies in ensuring that charging stations include features to make them accessible for all users. It is described as a best practices document, and is not enforceable under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“It points out the different components of an EV charging space that you need to consider in order to make sure that it is accessible to people with disabilities,” said Juliet Shoultz, transportation system engineer, with the Office of Technical and Information Services at the U.S. Access Board.
The guidelines point out specifics like the size of parking spaces serving EV chargers, and the height for accessing the charging cable and viewing information screens. For example, the charger plug, as well as screens, should be 15 to 48 inches off the ground. The charger should include a visual as well as audible indicator for the status of charge.
The movement of charging cables should also include motorized mechanisms, said Dion, to limit the force needed by the person plugging it in.
“As we get into the high-power range, these cables become very big, very hard to manipulate for any type of EV driver. So having that assistance can certainly help,” he explained.
Speakers on the panel dismissed the higher costs which many associated with making EV charging stations more accessible, saying an accessible station is a highly used station, making the business case for accessibility.
“You design for the edge, and you get the middle for free. So the investment it takes that really is feasible and meets accessibility standards, you’re going to see the benefit, time and time again,” said Alan Hejl, lead accessibility consultant at Spark Access, a disability consulting firm.
