Call for Government action on public EV charging safety

• Campaign calls for the Government to make electric vehicle (EV) charging locations safer for women and vulnerable users
• 62.9% of drivers think security measures at charge points aren't adequate
• Online car marketplace heycar wants minimum personal safety standard to be introduced with EV charging locations required to be well-lit, have monitored CCTV cameras and emergency contact buttons

A new campaign is calling for the Government to make electric vehicle (EV) charging locations safer for women and vulnerable users. 

heycar, which has launched the campaign, wants to see minimum standards introduced with EV charging locations required to be well-lit with monitored CCTV cameras and emergency contact buttons as a minimum.

EV locations that meet this standard would be identified with a kitemark so drivers know they can use them with confidence at night or when they are alone.

The campaign, which comes ahead of the clock change this month, is being supported by Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) UK. 

Emma Loveday, senior fleet consultant at VWFS UK, said: “Women can be vulnerable when they use an electric charging point without safety and security measures. There is a risk of women being subjected to unwanted behaviour and, worse, being attacked. The murders of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa and Ashling Murphy are still present in our minds. I haven’t heard of any incidents involving violence against women at charging points, but I am not naïve enough to think it won’t ever happen. It’s a case of when, not if.”

The majority of HonestJohn.co.uk readers who responded to our crime survey, don’t feel safe charging their electric cars at some public sites as security measures at charge points aren’t adequate. Eighty-nine per cent have decided against using a charge point because of safety concerns. 

Karina Smillie is one such EV driver. She was left physically shaking after a couple were aggressive towards her at a public charging station recently.  

The couple wanted to charge their EV and weren’t prepared to wait while Karina finished charging her car. 

“The woman started shouting at me - calling me inconsiderate and totally selfish,” Karina said. “She kept slamming her car door and shouting at me. And the man accused me of not understanding how an EV works. 

“They were really angry and I couldn’t understand why because I’d told them I would only be five more minutes. I felt my fight-or-flight response kick in and I was getting shaky. 

“I said to the guy ‘I don't know if you appreciate what's going on here but I'm a woman travelling on my own for work. I'm trying to use this charge point. Both of you have been quite aggressive and are shouting at me. It's really horrible. And I hope that your partner, if that's who you've got with you in the car, doesn't have to experience this at any point because this is horrible'. But he wasn't apologetic or anything.”

The couple didn’t physically threaten her but Karina felt vulnerable as there were no CCTV camera, no button to press on the charge point for an emergency and no shops close by.

“I thought ‘this isn’t safe’, and there must be other people who feel the same,” Karina said. 

After her frightening public EV charging experience, Karina is now having her front garden turned into a driveway so she can have a home charger fitted.

Woman feel "trapped" while charging 

Academics at Keele University have uncovered similar concerns. The female electric car drivers they interviewed reported feeling “trapped” inside their vehicles while charging, especially if there were no basic amenities close by, with a disabled woman “doubly vulnerable” if charging at an unlit location and where accessibility to and from their vehicle to reach charging cables was more difficult.

Professor Simon Pemberton, a member of the research team at Keele University, said: “To date, most of the focus around public EV charging has been on the nature of chargers and charging capacity rather than the actual needs and experiences of different user groups - such as women - in relation to public EV charging. Our research begins to address this knowledge gap and the challenges that need to be overcome to facilitate a just transition to zero emission vehicles in the UK.”

Chance to make a 'positive impact'

heycar’s campaign is also supported by ChargeSafe, an independent, five-star rating system for public EV charging, based on personal safety and accessibility. 

Kate Tyrrell, co-founder of ChargeSafe, said: “Ultimately, with the Government’s 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars we are all going to end up driving electric. But right now there is an opportunity to make sure that women are protected when charging their cars before the infrastructure is even built out. 

“There are currently about 33,000 public chargers - about 10 per cent of the 300,000 we need in the UK by 2030 - so if we can create a standard within the next two years, before the installation of chargers really takes off, then we can make a very positive impact on women's safety on a nationwide scale.”

>>>To support heycar's campaign to make public EV charging safer complete this short survey