A new standard introduced today (11 October 2022) will help ensure that charging an electric vehicle (EV) is accessible for all users, including disabled people.
With the aim of providing an inclusive experience for people with accessibility needs, PAS 1899:2022 is a new standard giving designers, procurers and installers essential specifications on how to provide accessible public charge points for electric vehicles.
Introduced by bsi the standard is set to enable more accessible EV charge points and covers the physical aspects of the environment surrounding fixed chargepoints (e.g. kerb height, ground type); the location, placement and spacing of chargepoints within the streetscape/public realm; the information, signals and indicators to be provided to users; and the factors to be taken into account in the design and specification of accessible chargepoints (e.g. height of chargepoint, cables and cable management systems, bollard spacing, colours used on screens, weight and force and ease of use of the equipment).
ChargeSafe is an independent, five-star rating system for public EV charging, based on personal safety and accessibility.
Kate Tyrrell, co-founder of ChargeSafe, said: “The PAS 1899:2022 standard serves as positive reinforcement that change can be achieved, where collaborative efforts are made. Accessibility for all using electric vehicle charge points should be the simplest decision when installing infrastructure and this has been too easily overlooked in the past. I look forward to updating our current inspection format to implement these measures and I sincerely hope parties responsible for charge point infrastructure take this document seriously. We appreciate there are obstacles to planning and with land owners, I’d like to see CPOs and installers use this standard to influence more inclusive decisions for all future projects.”
More information on the standard is available to view here.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
