It’s the primal fear of electric car drivers: being stranded somewhere in the middle of nowhere with an empty battery. Since you can’t get a canister with electricity, the only option is to tow it. However, this fear is becoming increasingly unfounded. In Germany, electric car drivers are increasingly finding it easier to find a public place to recharge their batteries. However, the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) still sees a need to increase the pace of expansion of the charging infrastructure.
As of July 1st of this year, there were around 21 electric vehicles per public charging point in Germany, as the VDA announced. At the beginning of the year there were more than 23 electric vehicles. According to the VDA, the number of public charging points in Germany increased by almost 17,000 to around 97,500 within the first six months of this year. At the same time, around two million electric cars were registered in the Federal Republic as of July 1st. This includes both battery-electric drives (BEV) and plug-in hybrids.
Things are improving, especially when it comes to fast charging points. In the first half of the year, more than 5,300 of them were added to Germany. By the middle of the year, their number was around 18,500. This means that there were 110 electric cars per fast charging point. But from the VDA’s point of view, growth is still too slow. The federal government’s goal is to have at least one million public charging points nationwide by 2030. According to the association, in order to achieve this goal, the pace of expansion would have to triple. “People need the certainty that they can easily charge anywhere and at any time so that they can switch to e-mobility,” said VDA President Hildegard Müller.
In addition, there are large differences in the individual regions. The VDA evaluates the availability of charging points based on data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority and the Federal Network Agency for federal states, districts and cities. The city of Ingolstadt performs best. Here only around four electric cars have to share a public charging point. The city of Wiesbaden has the fewest refueling options. According to the VDA, there are 115 electric cars per public charging point there.
Among the federal states, Saxony is in the best position and Saarland is in the worst position. The state of Bavaria is in seventh place, where almost 21 electric car drivers have to share a public charging point. According to the VDA, there is not yet a single public charging point in around half of all communities in Germany. This is “sobering and highlights the need for political action,” said Müller.