Rethinking the EV Charging Experience for Everyone

A BCIT study exposes how EV charging infrastructure excludes users with mobility constraints, urging a redesign before rollout accelerates

18 Nov 2025

A study led by the British Columbia Institute of Technology has identified significant accessibility failures in Canada's electric vehicle charging network, finding that heavy cables, poorly positioned screens and cramped parking bays routinely prevent users with mobility limitations from operating current equipment.

The research, conducted using a life-size mock charging station, did not constitute a national audit. It was designed instead as a demonstration of design shortcomings, one that has nonetheless drawn the attention of utilities, municipal planners and infrastructure bodies who are now weighing its implications.

The findings arrive at a consequential moment. Governments across Canada are supporting thousands of new charging installations, and the pace of deployment is accelerating. Accessibility has rarely featured as a primary design criterion, but the BCIT study suggests that omission carries real costs.

Testers with varied mobility needs participated directly in the research, providing firsthand evidence of how standard configurations exclude a measurable share of the population. The barriers identified were not exotic edge cases. They were features common to most existing sites.

The research team is now working with national standards bodies to inform future accessibility guidelines. Those guidelines could affect hardware specifications, interface design and parking layout requirements across new installations. Retrofitting older sites will require investment, though the scale of that task remains undefined.

Denser urban environments and multi-unit residential buildings present particular challenges, where space constraints complicate the integration of wider bays or repositioned equipment.

What remains unresolved is whether accessibility will be embedded in procurement and planning requirements before the next wave of infrastructure is built, or addressed retrospectively at greater cost. The standards process now under way will be closely watched by equipment manufacturers and municipal authorities alike.