Saturday, September 14, 2024
Infrastructure and TechnologyLatestNews

EZ-Charge trials Charge Saint’s solution to blocked EV charging bays

Charge point operator (CPO) EZ-Charge is trialling a new solution to electric vehicle (EV) charging bay blocking incidents which has been launched by Charge Saint.

EV drivers who encounter blocked charging bays – whether by petrol or diesel cars, or an electric vehicle that is parked but not plugged in and charging – can submit a report via the Charge Saint app, which is available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play

All Charge Saint reports submitted by EV drivers that concern blocked EZ-Charge charging bays shall be sent straight to the CPO so they can take action to stop it happening again.

The trial has been made possible by a Transport Research and Innovation Grant (TRIG) from the Department for Transport.

Dr Euan McTurk, Director and Co-founder of Charge Saint, said:

“We are delighted to welcome EZ-Charge onboard our trial. EZ-Charge has taken a unique ground-up approach in the design and deployment of its charge points, designing infrastructure that is reliable, accessible and user-friendly. It’s no surprise that they’ve been widely deployed in Oxfordshire, one of the most proactive local authorities in the UK when it comes to all things EV.

“We hope that Charge Saint shall further enhance the user experience at EZ-Charge’s charge points by helping to identify charging bay misuse hot spots as reported by EV drivers, and working with EZ-Charge and local authorities to put an end to the issue, helping to ensure that EZ-Charge’s charge points are available and accessible when you need them.” 

Phil Shadbolt, CEO of EZ-Charge added:

“At EZ Charge we are obviously concerned that as the market grows, blocking chargers may become a challenge. In working with Charge Saint, we can use the power of social media to help educate all drivers on the importance of allowing a courteous and fair charging space for all users.” 

Charge Saint is an app that allows electric vehicle drivers to report charging bay blocking incidents, such as ICEing, directly to the owner of the charge point so that they can take action to stop it happening again. The app gives simple instructions to the user on the evidence to take, which is then uploaded, matched with the charge point’s owner and sent to them for review.

Charge Saint hopes to vastly reduce the number of charging bay blocking incidents by offering insights into how, when, where and how often bays are blocked, and drawing attention to ways to improve site locations and designs to deter bay blocking in the first place. In addition to this, charge point owners can use the evidence from Charge Saint reports to dispatch traffic wardens to investigate in real time, and send penalty charge notices through the post. 

Image courtesy of Charge Saint.

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