A Place to Charge Your Wheels: Re-imagining the urban landscape for electric-wheelchair users through Design Fiction

Abstract

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While public charging infrastructure for Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the form of cars or vans attracts significant investment, charging infrastructure for electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters has been neglected. With the expansion of EV charging points over the past decade, local governments and mobility providers have only recently started to take note. Concurrently, municipal governments in the US and researchers in the EU have begun working with developers to envision an electric wheelchair (or equivalent mobility scooters) public charging infrastructure, while acknowledging the absence of current facilities. This is especially the case in the UK, where, at this time, there are no known public charging points for mobility vehicle users. As part of an international (student) research exchange event, we worked with community partners to capture the lived experience of electric wheelchair use in the urban environment, identifying key priorities and current barriers with them. Using a Design Fiction approach, we explored how speculative futures about public charging provision can help with awareness-raising and impact public policy in relation to this important issue.