The increase in electric driving in Europe is being held back by the lack of charging capacity, warns the European federation of car manufacturers, the ACEA.
The ACEA sounds the alarm that there is not only a shortage of charging stations in general in the European Union, but there are also far too few fast chargers. Only one in nine charging stations is a fast charger. As part of the European climate package ‘Fit for 55’, new CO2 targets are also being imposed on the car sector, but to get people to drive electric, ACEA says all the ‘red tape’ around charging must be removed. “People need to see plenty of chargers in their immediate vicinity, and these charging stations need to be quick and easy to use, without people having to wait in long lines,” said ACEA Director General Eric-Mark Huitema.
Of the approximately 225,000 public charging points currently available in the EU, only 25,000 are suitable for fast charging. The other charging stations include many regular low-capacity sockets. Charging an electric car at such charging points can take up to one night.
This must therefore be improved if the electric car is to be more widely accepted. Huitema: “Recharging should be as convenient and easy as refueling is now.” He calls the EU’s proposal nowhere near ambitious enough. Moreover, the proposal is not aligned with the envisaged new CO2 targets for cars. According to the ACEA, Europe should considerably sharpen its ambitions regarding charging infrastructure so that there are sufficient fast chargers in all EU Member States.
Netherlands above average
The situation in the Netherlands is significantly better than the EU average. According to the ACEA, the Netherlands now has 64,236 public charging points, which puts the Netherlands in first place. With 2,429 public fast chargers, we are certainly on the high side. In absolute terms, there are more in (albeit also much larger countries) Germany and France. There are 7,325 and 3,751 respectively.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl