Among the many drawbacks of public charging sites is a perceived lack of security—a feeling familiar to anyone who’s had to use a charger located in a dimly-lit corner of a vast parking lot.

SMS, a new UK-based charge point operator, recently published a white paper, “Powering up public EV charging,” that included the results of a survey of EV drivers, and 17% of the respondents said they had avoided using public EV charge points in the past because they didn’t feel safe.

Recognising these issues, SMS has become a verified member of ChargeSafe, a national network of UK CPOs committed to providing EV drivers with safe, reliable and accessible public charging stations.

ChargeSafe’s team makes a detailed (140-point) inspection of each member’s charging sites, and assigns each site a star rating from 0 to 5, in order to help EV drivers identify high-quality charging facilities via the ChargeSafe Portal.

SMS says becoming a ChargeSafe member will help it to establish best practices when it comes to its own site assessments and infrastructure design, and help it to ensure that its sites are inclusive and accessible for all members of the public, including those with disabilities.

“In growing our emerging network of public EV charging stations, SMS is partnering with UK landlords and developers, as well as organizations across the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors,” said Eugenio Herrero, Managing Director of EV Charging Infrastructure at SMS. “Being a ChargeSafe-verified CPO will bring a significant level of assurance to these partners that the charge points we deploy adhere to the highest quality of site planning, design and ease of use.”

Source: SMS