Traveling long distances in an e-car? This is a crucial criterion for potential buyers. This can be ensured not only by ever larger batteries in electric cars themselves, but also by a dense network of powerful fast chargers. But this picture has not yet appeared on German autobahns.
Long journeys by electric car could be much easier than it has been so far. Victor Perli, member of the Bundestag for the party Die Linke, criticizes this. The basis for his criticism are figures from the Federal Ministry of Transport.
E-cars in Germany: too few fast charging stations at rest stops
This shows that Germany’s largest service area company has approx 400 locations only on 224 fast charging columns with an output of 150 kW (as of February 1st). With 715 charging points, there are an average of three per Autobahn Tank & Rast GmbH service area (source: Spiegel).
The total number of charging stations at rest stops is therefore not outstanding: “That Tank & Rast’s virtual monopoly on the autobahns is hampering the entire development. Many service areas still lack quick charging points, although the federal government is making almost all areas available for this purpose practically free of charge,” says Perli. Tank & Rast holds concessions for the majority of German motorway service stations and gas stations there.
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However, e-car drivers are dependent on fast charging options, especially on motorways. Without the guess E-cars continue to lag behind combustion engines over long distances. Many charging providers are focusing their setup accordingly. However, this often results in charging parks without any notable infrastructure nearby.
Whether from German providers such as Ionity or EnBW for electric cars in general or the superchargers from Tesla, which, at least so far, cannot be used for all electric cars in Germany. They all have one thing in common: the charging stations are usually there, there may also be a payment terminal and that’s all.
Despite gaps in the charging network, switching to an e-car is worthwhile:
Charging providers and car manufacturers know the problem
Tesla has recognized the problem of a lack of local supply around the charging parks. There they want to upgrade the charging stations with their own restaurants, among other things. The functions that Tesla vehicles themselves offer can also do this Make charging time more comfortable – a development that affects practically all modern electric cars, at least in a certain price range.
The traffic light coalition wants one million public charging points in Germany by 2030, preferably fast chargers. With 55,205 (as of February 2022) you’re still a long way from it. The Association of the Automotive Industry, for example, calls for further funding of public and private charging stations.