Auto International: charging stations in Europe
The scissors separate
EnbW charging park
© press-inform – the press office
More and more electric cars are on European roads. This is noticeable at the charging stations; the infrastructure can hardly keep up. This trend is likely to continue in the coming years.
According to the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers ACEA, it is not only the number of charging stations that is insufficient in most countries; the majority of charging points are also not fast enough. Because more and more electric cars are rolling onto the streets, the gap between supply and demand is widening. Next week, the European Parliament will vote on the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation. This is how ACEA alerts policymakers to a situation that is getting worse every month.
In six EU countries there is not a single charging point along 100 kilometers of road. In 17 countries there are fewer than five charging points per 100 kilometers of road and only five states have more than ten charging points on the reference route. There is a big gap between the countries with the most charging stations and the countries with the fewest. In the Netherlands, for example, there is one charging station per 1.5 kilometers of road, while in Poland – which is eight times as large – there is only one charging station per 150 kilometers. Charging speed is also a major concern across the continent, with fast chargers with capacities in excess of 22 kilowatts accounting for only a fraction of the total capacity. Currently, just one in seven charging stations in the EU is a fast charging station. All others have a capacity of 22 kW or less and do not charge vehicles at an acceptable rate. The situation is even worse with the so-called hyperchargers, which enable charging speeds of more than 150 kW and are primarily to be found on the major connecting roads and motorways.
“If we want to convince citizens across Europe to switch to electric mobility in the coming decade, charging these cars should be as easy as filling up today,” says ACEA Director-General Sigrid de Vries, “People shouldn’t have to drive miles, to find a charger, nor should they have to wait a long time to charge their vehicle. We call on MEPs to vote for strong action on charging infrastructure next week and set ambitious infrastructure targets – with clear enforcement mechanisms – for each member state.”
The Federal Association for Emobility sees it in a very similar way. In view of unbroken CO2 emission values and a hitherto low market penetration of purely electric vehicles of less than two percent in the German vehicle market alone, it is important to strengthen the use of electromobility in the entire transport network. Association President Kurt Sigl appeals to the planners and builders of charging infrastructure not only to look at the vehicles and manufacturers, but also to consider the charging needs. “Mobility is more than driving a car,” says Kurt Sigl, “we now understand mobility as a network of interactions, which must be strengthened through compatible interfaces of consistently usable charging points. It is therefore urgently necessary to further develop the charging infrastructure master plan for all modes of transport and to exploit intermodality to the full.”