EV charging that makes the car park a destination

If there is one aspect of Electric Vehicles (EVs) that could improve the mood of EV drivers it is making public charging more available, more reliable and more accessible. And for the disabled motorist, accessibility is not just a ‘nice to have’ but an essential. 

Ask EV drivers – and CTEK has – how they would like the charging experience to evolve and it is for charge points that are easy to use, simple to pay for and that work. The disabled EV driver also needs to be able to safely reach, interact with and operate a charge point that has clarity in its physical and information design. 

EV drivers, even those with home charging, want to be able to charge at everyday destinations such as shopping centres, supermarkets, leisure venues and when visiting town and city centres. 

The common denominator to those locations is car parks. So, how to improve the destination car park for the EV age and for all EV drivers? 

Two big themes are availability and maintenance. More availability and fewer broken charge points would ease the charging anxiety that is widespread and growing, according to our surveys on EV drivers in several European countries.  

Have more charge points in car parks and maintain them so more are working as they should, and you also ease the increasing spectre of queueing. It’s the dread of arriving at a charging location to find all the charge points occupied and, even worse, other EV drivers waiting their turn. A charging network portal can alert the operator to any faults, some of which can be fixed remotely. 

Get the provision right and your car park becomes a more attractive destination in its own right. Get it wrong and EV drivers will park elsewhere. 

Another innovation is providing the EV driver with the option to pay once for both parking and charging in a car park. For the driver, that’s attractively one fewer payment to make and for the car park operator it is also a streamlined process. 

Making car park charge points more reliable, simple to use and accessible appeals to all EV drivers but perhaps particularly resonates with disabled motorists. 

Single payments to park and charge would help. But there is so much more than payment which affects the disabled EV driver’s experience of charging. 

There are the physical factors – the size of the parking space, obstructions around the charge point, level or dropped kerb access. Information and how it is presented is also key. Signs that aid a driver to find the charge points in a car park is useful for all drivers.  

But disabled drivers also need additional information, such as whether their disability parking pass entitles them to park for free or not. 

Wheelchair users face specific challenges. Is there a kerb or a bollard preventing the driver from getting close enough to the charge point and at the right height? EV charging installation design must consider if the measures being put in place to protect the charge point from collisions are also inadvertently keeping the disabled user out of reach. 

The design and the positioning of a charge points information, display screens, contactless card reader and cable weight, plug design and socket height all need thinking about from the disabled driver’s perspective. Screens should be visible to both standing and seated users. Are the indicator lights/symbols big and bright, such as on CTEK’s CC2 charge point. Is text large and well contrasted? 

The BSI has a specification for accessible charging, PAS 1899, which supports the building of inclusive EV charging infrastructure: bsigroup.com/en-GB/standards/pas-1899/ 

And the disability design charity Designability also has guidance on the topic, including the views of disabled EV drivers: accessibleevcharging.designability.org.uk/design-guidance/ 

Getting EV charging right for disabled drivers will benefit all EV drivers. A well-designed charge point for a disabled driver is also an attractive, easy to use proposition for everyone. Car parks and other destinations can help make this the norm. 

CTEK is always ready to advise car park operators and has the expertise to support the planning and execution of EV charging installations on any scale.