Three-quarters of councils fail to provide accessible EV chargers, finds Vauxhall

Three-quarters of UK councils do not have any on-street electric vehicle (EV) chargers that meet accessibility standards, or are adapted for disabled drivers, according to research conducted by Vauxhall.

49 out of the 194 councils that responded to Vauxhall had accessible on-street chargers, compared with 24 in 2025.

Vauxhall estimated that 15% of on-street EV chargers are now adapted for disabled drivers, while 14% conform to PAS 1899:2022, an accessibility standard set by the British Standards Institution (BSI).

More than half of the councils that responded said their charging strategies consider disabled and elderly people.

However, Vauxhall found that implementation was lacking, with 43 accessible on-street chargers in the North West and 14 in Scotland, compared with 2,131 in London.

Eurig Druce, managing director at Vauxhall and group managing director at Stellantis UK, said: “It’s encouraging to see more councils recognising the importance of accessible on-street charging, with provision nearly doubling in the last year.

“But the fact that three quarters of councils still do not provide chargers specifically adapted for disabled drivers, or chargers that meet recognised accessibility standards, shows how much further there is to go.

“As more people switch to electric vehicles, accessibility must be built into public charging from the start, not treated as an afterthought.