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Businesses have been urged to consider the importance of accessibility when installing EV chargers on their premises.
The appeal has come from Volkswagen Financial Services Fleet, which has argued that, although chargers on company sites are not yet regulated in the same way as public chargers, employers should still make sure they are meeting the needs of all their drivers.
It said estimates showed that by 2033 there would be around 2.7 million disabled drivers in the UK, many of whom would be commuting in an EV and therefore need accessible onsite charging.
VWFS Fleet EV product manager David Watts said employers should consider the PAS 1899:2022 standard for public chargers published last year.
He said: "The nationwide shift towards EVs is continuing at pace, accelerated by the ban in the UK on the sale of new petrol and diesel-powered vehicles from 2030.
"To support the switch, the public charging network is expanding rapidly, and stringent regulation has recently been introduced to ensure that all users - able-bodied and disabled, or with any other type of accessibility need - can quickly and simply charge their vehicles.
"While the standard is not, at this point, mandatory for chargepoints installed on private or business premises, there is nothing to say that its provision won't be extended in the future.
"In any case, companies would be well-advised to consider the guidance contained in PAS 1899:2022 when installing EV chargepoints on their premises to make EV charging accessible for all."
Watts explained that the British Standards Institute currently recommends that workplaces should provide at least one accessible parking bay per disabled employee, alongside a minimum of 5% of the total parking capacity of visiting drivers, and argued that at least the same level of provision should be available for workplace EV charging spaces.
He said: "PAS 1899:2022, covers the complete breadth of charging - from the physical environment around chargepoints to their location, spacing and design - encompassing height, weight, ease of use and accessibility of information.
"If you're planning workplace chargepoint installations - whether that's for depot charging or individual employee car charging - adhering to public charging accessibility standards for workplace charging will allow disabled people, or those with accessibility needs, to use chargepoints in the same way they do any other equipment in the workplace."
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