News & Features
Accessible Chargepoints to be Installed
Posted in General News on Wednesday, February 9th, 2022
As part of the Shift! EV accessibility project which DMUK is involved with, two new accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging bays will be installed in Brighton and Hove. Working with the city’s EV Charging Operator, EB Charging and ourselves, the bays will be installed at Rottingdean Marine Cliffs Car Park. This will mean that disabled EV owners in the area will have access to a fast charger which is able to provide a full charge in less than four hours. The installation is set to happen in a couple of weeks’ time. The council will also be adding in two more standard disabled bays to ensure that disabled motorists in petrol and diesel cars are not found wanting.
EB Charging has been developing software which will allow users to pre-book an EV charging bay through the EB Go! App. The app includes an option for motorists to book assistance should they require support when operating the charger.
Throughout the trial period Brighton and Hove Council will be asking for feedback from users regarding things like the dimensions of the bays and the charging units and their experience of using the EB Go! app. They are now looking for EV drivers who hold a Blue Badge to take part in a survey to help them understand how they can develop the project further. If you would like to take part in the survey being held from 14th February to 31st March please contact parkingprojects@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
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Michael Donnelly
Thursday, February, 17th, 2022
What’s the news on Hydrogen vehicles??
Stuart Blake-Saker
Thursday, April, 21st, 2022
Hello, It is good to see some progress being made concerning EV inclusivity. I love that local authorities are pursuing trials of new formats to help make EV charging more inclusive. However, my main concern with this would be what was experienced in my local area of Southampton. Two EV disabled bays were trialled in a car park within the city. Unfortunately, disabled drivers of non EVs decided that they were could park in the bays, as they were disabled blue badge holders. This caused controversy with blue badge holding EV drivers who wanted to charge their EVs. Because of this the trial was ended and not continued in other formats. However, I believe there is a solution that fits all EV drivers and it is simply making all EV parking spaces or at least 70% of every EV parking spaces accessible to all users whatever their accessibility needs and requirements. This may take up more space in the short term, but this fills the gap between the next generation of EV batteries are implemented. There are other benefits too. But this is up for interpretation. I firmly believe that there is a suitable model. It will simply take one organisation or one local authority to push the boundaries in a positive way and then stand by their decision and set the standards of inclusive EV parking bays. The best approach is how Brighton and Hove have done it. Which is to complete a comprehensive user test of the decision. Advertise that this is a trial, call for users to test and provide constructive and appropriate feedback. Then report the findings back to Government and EV charging organisations to help create an inclusive service for all. Thank you Brighton and Hove. I truly hope that your trial works well and your findings are presented to the right people who can force the right direction for EV inclusivity. Regards Stuart