Thoughts on disabled charging spots

As a person with a blue badge holder in the family, I think this is a ridiculous waste of finite resources. If chargers were everywhere then fine. But they arent.

Well this one usually generates some... robust debate to put it lightly

Here are my thoughts on it

Let's first consider the current situation with ICE cars. There are (to my knowledge) no designated petrol pumps for wheelchair users, the same pumps are used by everyone regardless of ability. However there is a sort of implied accessibility since there's usually a decent amount of space around the pumps, and they're low enough that someone in a wheelchair can reach them. Sometimes the shop staff will also be around to help if needed

This isn't a great situation, but it sort of works and is apparently tolerable to society

Now let's consider the EV world

Personally, I think the idea of making charging available to everyone regardless of any disability they have is good and should be applauded

However, the idea of making a dedicated accessible space for charging is a bad idea

There's too many ambiguities at play. Is the space dedicated only for wheelchair users to charge, or can any blue badge holder use it, even if they have an ICE car? Is it a priority space for wheelchair users, meaning if all the other chargers are being used then it can be used by anyone?

From the planning permission, there doesn't seem to be anything special about the space to make it easier for wheelchair users compared to the others

So overall, good idea in principle, bad idea in practice

FWIW, here's my thoughts on a better solution (which are utterly meaningless given this is an internet forum, but here we go anyway)

At the absolute minimum, all DC chargers should be designed so they are accessible to all users, including people with reduced mobility. This doesn't just mean bigger spaces, but also designing the chargers for ease of use.

Cable holding mechanisms, lowering the screen so you can see it from a wheelchair, simplified interfaces and payment methods should all be standard for DC chargers

Ideally the same would extend to AC chargers, but car park operators don't like losing spaces to charging anyway so that probably wouldn't fly

However, the accessible spaces should all have AC chargers installed at them. Doesn't need to be much, 11kW is probably sufficient for many use cases. But there should be confidence for blue badge holders that they can find a space and that it will have a charger available if needed

So taking the example above, let's say the 4 charging spaces were DC charging, then the 4 accessible spaces would have AC chargers installed as well

We have a blue badge holder in the family, as I mentioned earlier. As a result, our main car has a blue badge.

Thankfully it doesnt involve a wheelchair, but on bad days (intermittent long term mobility impairment) a rollator is needed. Luckily there's usually two of us in the car on very long trips while charging. If it wasnt, and the mrs (who has the mobility impairment) had to charge on a bad day when her mobility required the use of a rollator, there would be issues fitting between two cars parked at a busy FCP. Adding a disabled bay doesnt help that unless theres an additional gap between the cars.

For me, the best accomodation for disabled drivers is actually to make all FCP spots accessible. Like Ionity do, except do it on all spots.

I've never measured it, but AFAIK most FCPs have similar spacing around them to a wheelchair space

The problem is, that's probably not enough for most chargers

Cable management becomes a big issue, if you have a thick 500A cable sitting on the ground between two cars then getting a rollator or wheelchair through there will be a massive PITA

That's why I think you need a crane or something to hold the cable off the ground

Putting the chargers on concrete plinths is also not helping. Looking at the old ESB FCP in Lusk, how on earth is anyone in a wheelchair supposed to access the charger? They'd have to go all the way around to the ramp, then somehow reach up high enough to see the screen and get to the RFID reader

Hopefully the app is working that day, otherwise it'll be a world of hassle

The new Applegreen chargers seem a bit better with ramps nearby and the chargers at road level, but probably still have the cable management issues