Bad news for electric car owners: what happens to charging stations

EU member states need to step up investment in electric vehicle infrastructure, with up to 14,000 public charging points for electric vehicles to be installed across the EU each week to meet future demand, said the European Automobile Manufacturers Association or ACEA .

Currently, less than 2,000 public charging points for electric vehicles are installed in the EU every week.

The investment demand was backed by new cross-sectoral research based on the analysis of consulting firm McKinsey, which found that by 2030 up to 6.8 million public charging points will be needed in the EU to achieve a 55% CO2 reduction. proposed for passenger cars.

This figure was almost twice as high as that presented by the European Commission in its proposal for the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), which was being negotiated in the European Parliament and the Council, ACEA said.

The research estimated the costs for public charging infrastructure at 8 billion euros / year, which is about 16% of the investment in 5G and high-speed internet networks.

“Although considerable investment will be required from the beginning, it is only a fraction of the total investment in comparable infrastructure projects – and would bring huge environmental benefits,” ACEA said.

Concerns about slow implementation

Sales of electrically charged cars in the EU have increased 10fold in the last five years, reaching 1.7 million units, or 18% of the total market share, in 2021, according to ACEA. The number of public chargers in the EU increased 2.5 times over the same period.

“The automotive industry is already bringing hundreds of low- and zero-emission vehicle models to market, but there are serious concerns about the slow implementation of the infrastructure needed to load and refuel these vehicles,” ACEA said.

“The transition to zero is a long-term race,” said Oliver Zipse, ACEA President and CEO of the BMW Group.

“The key challenge now is to persuade all Member States to speed up the implementation of the necessary infrastructure. We absolutely need an ambitious conclusion of the AFIR proposal, both in terms of its timetable and the goals it sets for each EU country, ”he added.

In its EU Low Emission Mobility Strategy of 2016, it stated that it aims to make charging electric vehicles as easy as filling a conventional vehicle tank.

The EU aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport by 90% by 2050 compared to 1990, by increasing the number of zero-emission vehicles on the road to around 13 million by 2025, at least 30 million by 2030 and a majority fleet by 2050.