Fewer than one in three motorway EV charging bays meet accessibility standards, Motability Operations finds
Analysis of 88 motorway service stations found 11 with no accessible charging bays at all, as new survey data shows majorities of disabled drivers and the wider public feel excluded from the switch to electric vehicles.
Motability Operations partnered with an independent surveyor to assess EV charging bays at 95% of Britain's motorway service stations, according to analysis reported by THIIS Magazine. The analysis, carried out in November 2024 and now available in the Motability Go app, found that of 1,166 charging bays assessed, just 28.6% could be classified as accessible, meeting the 360cm total width required under British Standards.
Across the 88 service stations surveyed, 333 of the bays assessed were classed as accessible, equivalent to 29% of the total. Eleven service stations had no accessible charging bays at all, around one in eight of those surveyed.
Accessibility varied significantly by region. The East of England (43%) and North West (40%) outperformed the national average, while the North East of England was the worst-performing region, with just 16% of motorway charging bays deemed accessible.
The findings were published alongside the fifth wave of the Motability Scheme's EV Transition Tracker, conducted with More in Common, which found that 60% of disabled Motability Scheme customers and 59% of the wider public feel excluded from the UK's transition to electric vehicles. Among disabled Scheme customers, 39% cited being unable to charge at home as a barrier, while 31% of those with EV driving experience pointed to charging cable weight and ease of use, or difficulty reaching charge points because of bay width.
Andrew Miller, CEO of Motability Operations, said: "For disabled people, their vehicles are fundamental to their freedom – to work, see family and take part in their communities. If the infrastructure around electric vehicles isn't designed with disabled people in mind, we risk losing this independence to a new set of barriers."
Sources
THIIS MagazineNamed in this story? You have a right of reply: email hello@thrivefleet.co.uk and a challenged claim will be marked under review while we check it.
