Hi all,

The firm I work for has a couple of electric vehicles for fleet use.

We have two charging points at the front of the building which are at the end of a row of 'normal' parking spaces (for vehicles with internal combustion engines).

The users of the two EVs park up with their vehicles facing the office wall and plug in to chargers which are on the wall.  There are therefore cables going from the rear of the vehicle to the charging point in the wall, trailing across the ground. There is a parking space next to the EVs used by members of staff to park their own vehicles.

Just applying the common sense approach would suggest that in order to avoid the charging cables being a trip hazard or being damaged by users of the adjacent space we should make extra space around the EV charging bays.  At the moment they are the same width as 'normal' parking bays.

My question is whether there are any regulations regarding EV parking spaces?  I don't mean regarding the electrical connections - I'm happy that these are OK.  Nor am I worried about the location of the charging points with respect to proximity to any hazardous materials.  Just whether there are any recommendations / guidance / regulations on this subject that anyone has come across.  Google searches were not helpful.

(It would also make sense for the EVs to reverse into the spaces but the layout of the car park would make this difficult.  I haven't ruled it out though.)

There are no regulations as such regarding EV charging points.

Approved Document M of the Building Regulations (England) gives specifics for disabled spaces

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-and-use-of-buildings-approved-document-m

Cars themselves (not just EV) are an increasing problem (pun intended) with recommended bay sizes having balloned to 2.6m x 5m, some councils now seeking to ban vehicles that do not fit existing bay sizes in public parking (over 5m) whilst a 1970's town house with integrated garage has no chance of storing the family car.

I would caution about providing additional space for the trailing cable as this could be perceived as sanctioning a sloppy hook-up appreciating people from the adjacent bay will step in to the gap.

For the longer term you may wish to consider that EV by different manufacturers have their socket dotted all around the car - front grill, front wing, rear wing (like an ICE filler cap), across the rear.

This melange can cause issues with reverse parking policies - if the cable is insufficient to reach the front of the vehicle (as with mobile phones not all charging cables are equal).

Personally I would adopt a policy of parking with the charging point and charger in closest proximity so that any excess cable can be tucked away under the car. You are still going to have a potential trip hazard between car and charger its just another unintended consequence of the rush to dump ICE vehicles.

We got cable protectors that span the footpath so mitigates the trip hazard for others. I'm unsure how to upload photos on here so can't show you our set up.

There are also several providers of a type of trough intended for use on public pavements

https://www.kerbocharge.com/

https://www.chargegully.com/

https://www.stormguard.co.uk/stormguard-products/heavy-duty-ev-cable-channel/

https://gul-e.co.uk/

Having tried a typical cable strip at home (PHEV) there is a tendency for these to lift or distort as the cable changes level e.g. passing over a kerb so whilst reducing the trip hazard of the cable itself they still present a trip hazard. You also have the issue that the cable is meant to be inserted through the underside of the strip making for wet & dirty handling.