News & Features

DMUK Access to EV Results

Posted in General News on Monday, December 12th, 2022

In April 2022 Disabled Motoring UK was awarded some funding from the National Lottery to research the worries and concerns which disabled motorist have regarding the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles in 2030 and switch over to electric vehicles (EVs). The charity surveyed participants from May to September and received over 2000 responses.

Disabled Motorist identify the lack of a disabled parking bay as their biggest barrier to accessing public charging infrastructure.

The survey asked participants to rank in order from 1-6 what would pose the biggest difficulty to them when using public charge points. 1 being the biggest difficulty and 6 being the least. The options were:

·         Dexterity required to plug in cable to charger and car

·         Lack of an accessible parking bay

·         Height of machinery

·         Complexity of charging machinery and booking/payment apps

·         Machinery being on a plinth without a dropped kerb

·         Weight of charging plug and cable

The biggest problem was clear from the results with 41 % saying that the biggest difficulty would be a lack of a disabled parking bay. Most other results had equal weighting.

The other major concerns included the cost of purchase and the worry of charging on longer journeys.

45.7% of people ranked the cost of purchasing an EV as the thing that concerned them most with the worry of charging on longer journeys coming in at second most concerning at 12.5%.

EVs are becoming more widespread, but there is yet to be an established second-hand market for such vehicles. There is no clear understanding of resale values and second-hand EV reliability. This is off putting to all motorists wanting to make the switch especially with the cost of new EVs being so high.

DMUK Communications & Campaigns Director, said: “The ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles is moving closer and it is clear from the results of this survey that more needs to be done so that disabled motorists can move forward with this transition. Some of the problems highlighted in the survey aren’t unique to disabled motorists. The cost of purchase, the worry of charging on longer journey and availability of public charging will affect all motorists. However, the lack of accessible public charging is problematic. From the survey the biggest concern on public charging is the lack of a disabled parking bay. In recent BSI guidance issued on accessible public charging (PAS 1899) the provision of a disabled parking bay is just an annex to the document. Our survey suggests that this needs to be at the forefront of any guidance to make public charging truly accessible.”

DOWNLOAD FULL SURVEY REPORT

Comments (11)

Leave a reply

* indicates a required field

 

Comments

David Davies's Gravatar
David Davies

Wednesday, December, 14th, 2022

I had purchased an electric saloon in 2020 but my wife broke her hip and has been unable to walk since. I looked into two systems to enable her to be seated in the car safely but neither system could be installed in the car due to the battery position. I looked into getting a WAV but no company is producing an electric WAV so I had to obtain a diesel vehicle.. I was told it would probably be at least five years before an EV would be available which is quite disappointing given the proposed changes expected in the next few years. This is one area where I think pressure should be applied to fund the development of electric vehicles for those who require a WAV. I have a three year lease on my current WAV and would hope that I can obtain an EV when it is due to be changed.

Steve's Gravatar
Steve

Wednesday, December, 14th, 2022

One of the problems I have noticed is some EV owners use charging bays as parking bays. They plug the charger into their car and then go off and do their thing. Several hours later the car is still in the same place , still plugged in. Until something can be done about this problems will continue.

Mr D T Rees's Gravatar
Mr D T Rees

Wednesday, December, 14th, 2022

Hi, personally would like to try A hybrid on the next lease but it looks like the up-front payment will be over my head. If it was possible I would have liked to see how feasable the electric charging points were. Thank you respectfully yours Mr. Donald T Rees. have been with motability since 2002

John Davies's Gravatar
John Davies

Wednesday, December, 14th, 2022

Even if more disabled parking was available they are more than likely to be used by non disabled drivers . Also many of the vehicles showing blue badges in my experience are not the ones entitled for the use. This may sound negative but it is todays attitude by a minority who do not care. More people need to be out there to police this. I also must point out the choice of vehicle out there for me any way do not cover my needs. I have extended my lease on my current vehicle through Motability as I can not find a replacement. There are not even petrol/diesel cars out there either. This law is a death sentence to disabled drivers we will become house bound with no means of getting out

Mr A Widdowson's Gravatar
Mr A Widdowson

Wednesday, December, 14th, 2022

My worry is that there aren't any wheelchair accessible vehicles available in electric form (except one which isn't very suitable for me). So if my current vehicle (VW short wheelbase, lowered floor) can't be replaced them what?

Mr A Widdowson's Gravatar
Mr A Widdowson

Wednesday, December, 14th, 2022

I'm Very worried about the serious difficulties that WAV creating companies will have extreme difficulty in fitting batteries to vehicles, rendering these vital vehicles almost impossible to replace. I believe that there is one such vehicle at the moment a Nissan which is unsuitable for my needs. It is obviously extremely difficult to solve this problem because of the lower floor that these vehicles need.

michael mansfield's Gravatar
michael mansfield

Wednesday, December, 14th, 2022

Many thanks for the results of the survey. Although I didn't take part myself I found it interesting and very helpful. Another issue of concern to me is the ULEZ charge in London and it's expansion, not just in the capital but, increasingly, to some of the region's. There are, in some cases, concessions for disabled motorists but these are discretionary and, in many cases, discriminatory according to level of disability and the DVLAs categorisation of concessions for road tax. This issue may be something the DMUK would wish to get involved in. Again, many thanks for the support and advocacy of DMUK on behalf of those who benefit from its activities. Best regards, Michael Mansfield.

Keel's Gravatar
Keel

Wednesday, December, 14th, 2022

I have recently ordered an EV through Motability as I saw it as a chance to give it a go without the cost but, since ordering it in early September, anticipated arrival in spring 2023, I have been looking at the charging points in and around my local city and it has to be said, they always seem to be at one of the furthest points away from the shops etc so for example, a Tesco Extra has them in the carpark but they are quite a long way from the entrance to the store, the large Lidl has them, in the the farthest corner of the car park. I am now slightly concerned about my ability to charge at various points other than home!

Legs Dymond's Gravatar
Legs Dymond

Wednesday, December, 14th, 2022

Since doing the survey I have been paying paticular attention to the availability of working charging points in my area , I'm afraid they are few and far between! In fact the amount of non operational point's is more than concerning ! Another factor that is putting me off EV's is the untruth's about battery life ! a friend of mine has been caught out on more than one occasion and looking around the resale value of said car's is pretty poor! Towing also seems to have it's problem's, not much good to me as I have a double axle caravan which does require a bit of grunt! All in all they do not boad to well for me so I think I will be sticking to my trustee diesel besides getting rid of the batteries is no where near environmental enough for me ! Non starter for me !

Elizabeth Teresa Brennan's Gravatar
Elizabeth Teresa Brennan

Thursday, December, 15th, 2022

I totally agree with how you addressed the difficulties and explained them adequately. I would agree to an electric or hybrid motor vehicle

John jones's Gravatar
John jones

Thursday, December, 15th, 2022

I’m worried about trying to charge the batteries when out and about especially during inclement weather like at the moment