Germany lags behind
The automotive industry calls for a significant expansion of charging stations
08/05/2023 10:39 am
Electric cars are becoming increasingly popular and are already reaching the mass market. Every fifth new car sold in Germany in the past month has a battery-electric drive. But the charging infrastructure is still poor – and the gap is getting bigger.
The Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA) has called for a significantly faster expansion of the charging infrastructure for electric cars. In order to achieve the goal set by the federal government of one million charging stations by 2030, “the speed of expansion over the past twelve months would have to be quadrupled,” said VDA President Hildegard Müller to the “Spiegel”.
The gap between the stock of e-cars and the charging infrastructure has continued to grow over the years. In January 2021, 14 e-cars and plug-in hybrids came to a public charging station, according to the VDA there are now 22 such vehicles. According to this, there are currently around 90,000 publicly accessible charging points in Germany.
“Germany has a lot of catching up to do,” said the VDA boss. The pace of expansion has at least picked up lately. “This must definitely continue,” she demanded. The production and sale as well as new registrations of electric cars increased significantly in Germany last year.
“Now the mainstream buyers are grabbing it”
Every fifth new car sold in Germany last month had a battery-electric drive. With almost 48,700 pure electric cars (BEV), around 60 percent more vehicles came onto the road in July than in the same month last year, as reported by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). Their share of all new registrations was therefore 20 percent.
According to a study by the management consultancy “PwC Strategy&”, the Stromer are now on the threshold of the mass market. This means that “normal market conditions now also prevail in the electronics segment, with everything that goes with it,” said PwC industry expert Felix Kuhnert. “The early adopters and buyers of conviction have stocked up. Now the mainstream buyers are grabbing it.”