Disabled motorists who do not have access to off-street parking will require on-street charging solutions as they transition to EVs. These motorists will have specific needs, with limited flexibility on where they can park and accessibility concerns for charging solutions.
If all disabled parking bays will need to be electrified, this could have a significant impact on our network. Research by Ricardo estimates that up to 1.35 million disabled drivers will be partially or wholly reliant on public charging infrastructure. If we assume, based on population, that around a third of those drivers are within our area that will be nearly half a million customers. If we know where these bays are, we can plan to ensure disabled EV motorists’ needs are met without any detrimental effect to our network.
Objectives
The objectives and outcomes are:
· To understand the needs of disabled EV drivers, in particular those reliant on on-street parking and charging
· To understand the location and spread of disabled parking spaces within our area, where possible
· To understand the network implications of the electrification of these disabled parking spaces, and to identify an appropriate investment plan accordingly
· To understand the barriers to electrification of disabled parking spaces and develop an approach to overcome these
· To develop a coordinated approach with local authorities to serve the needs of disabled EV drivers that can be delivered within Local Area Energy Plans
· To identify areas for further investigation/trials
Learnings
Outcomes
As a research project, the main outcome of the project is the final report detailing the results of the research, the proposed roles for the distribution network operator in facilitating EV uptake in disabled drivers, and areas for further investigation and trials. This report is available here.
We have launched a dedicated accessible transport hub on our website, to host the learning of the project and provide content to different audiences, including local authorities, charge point operators and disabled customers. This can be found here: Accessible transport information hub | UK Power Networks.
We have also published the data on the estimated number of blue badge parking bays in each local authority in our licence areas, at the LSOA level. This will be helpful for local authorities and charge point operators in planning public charging networks and ensuring there is provision for disabled drivers where it is needed most. This is available on our Open Data Portal.
One of the findings of the project was for UK Power Networks to use its position as a trusted stakeholder to advocate for the on-street charging needs of disabled customers and ensure that the accessibility of charging is featured prominently within the EV industry stakeholder landscape. OZEV and Motability are co-sponsoring the development of an accessibility standard for public charging (PAS 1899), for which UK Power Networks is on the steering group because of this project.
Lessons Learnt
While the project went to plan and no modifications were needed, some lessons can be learnt from the successes of the project. These include:
• Phasing engagement. The first phase of the project included desktop research, some initial external engagement and planning the next stage of qualitative and quantitative research. This approach meant that research questions were well defined and the right questions could be asked, maximising the impact of engagement.
Collaboration. The project was undertaken in collaboration with Motability, the disability transport charity. This collaboration ensured that relevant end-customers were part of the process and their views and needs appropriately considered.
