Enabling accessible electric vehicle charging

Austroads, La Trobe University, and ITS Australia have completed their project, Accessibility guidelines for LZEV charging infrastructure. The report covers installation requirements for low and zero-emission vehicles, detailing location, usability, and design guidelines. The project’s final report is available for download below.

The insights will help road managers, industry, and governments make electric vehicle charging stations more accessible to people with disabilities and older people.

The findings update Austroads’ 2022 Guidelines for Low and Zero Emission Charging Infrastructure Installation. Those guidelines offer limited guidance on accessibility and inclusive design.

Methodology

EV charging infrastructure rollout is fragmented across jurisdictions, private sector providers, local councils, and individuals. This has negatively impacted accessibility and inclusion, with some sites unsuitable for people with disabilities.

Public charging is either DC (fast, for longer trips) or AC (slower, for daily use). AC’s longer charging times can disproportionately affect people with disabilities, increasing both practical barriers and user risk compared to other users.

The study:

• Collated challenges through field testing and stakeholder input
• Reviewed international best practices
• Examined compliance challenges and innovation opportunities
• Developed practical strategies for compliance and inclusion

End-user journey of EV charging

The project examined six stages of the EV charging journey:

1. Plan to charge
2. Drive to the charging station
3. Find an available charging bay
4. Charge the vehicle
5. Move around the site, and
6. Complete and pay

The report systematically identifies and addresses challenges people with disability face with EV charging. These include challenges with accessing clear and reliable information, interacting with digital tools and systems, navigating charging locations, and using equipment independently. There are also challenges linked to the physical environment, communication and feedback, operational reliability, and payment processes. Together, these challenge types influence how predictable, safe, and effort intensive EV charging is for people with disabilities.

Conclusions

The review identifies several critical accessibility issues in public EV charging infrastructure that are not covered or only loosely addressed by existing laws and standards. As a result, accessibility is often applied inconsistently, leading to gaps in EV charging design and operation—particularly in outdoor, on-street, and retrofitted settings—and exclusionary user experiences. Without change, EV infrastructure risks excluding a significant group of users from the transition to low-emissions transport.

Many of the barriers identified can be addressed through relatively simple improvements to design, signage, and information. The updated framework embeds accessibility across the full user journey, not just site design. As technology evolves, further solutions are likely to emerge beyond those captured in this report.

Recommendations

The project team made seven recommendations:

• Set up a regulatory framework so standards for Australia’s EV charging infrastructure are consistent, enforceable, and accessible
• Improve design for safe, independent use, including shared space around bays
• Develop nationally consistent data, diagrams, and design guides
• Update the current guidelines for accessibility
• Create an interactive checklist for planning, approval, and auditing
• Introduce ongoing feedback on and periodic review of the guidelines in line with technology and users’ needs, and
• Explore funding and compliance models to support rollout and long-term monitoring.

Final report

A copy of he fianl report for the project is downloadable from the Austroads website at: Enabling Accessible Electric Vehicle Charging.