After the debacle surrounding the allocation of charging infrastructure for electric cars, the city council decided on a new procedure on Wednesday. Because a Europe-wide tender for the charging stations failed after three years due to legal hurdles, the city now wants to award the construction of charging stations to suitable applicants without a tender. To this end, eight “contingents” are to be allocated for the urban area. If there is more than one applicant for a quota, the lottery will decide. This is intended to accelerate expansion.
Each contingent covers three to four city districts and is equivalent in terms of overall charging performance. According to the city administration, the goal is to double the existing total charging capacity in public spaces to 55 megawatts by 2026.
The group of applicants is not limited, but a quota must be filled completely: The company must therefore be able to set up dozens of locations independently and operate them permanently. After the contract has been successfully awarded, the company can submit specific location applications for construction within its contingent, taking into account location criteria.
Once a location has been approved by the mobility department, the company can apply to the municipal utilities as the distribution network operator to create the connection. The first locations are expected to be implemented by the turn of the year.
Around 1,300 new charging points will be added to the existing 1,200. These are normal charging stations where cars are charged for several hours. According to the mobility department, another draft resolution is in the works for the fall of this year to set up a fast-charging infrastructure.
But the development of charging infrastructure on private property should also be accelerated. Companies can also build publicly accessible charging infrastructure on private property with the consent of the property owners and in compliance with the Bavarian building regulations. The environmental department supports this financially with the “Funding program for climate-neutral drives”.