According to the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), the range of public charging stations for e-cars is more than sufficient. “The good news is: We have an oversupply of charging options,” said Kerstin Andreae, Chair of the BDEW Executive Board. According to a survey by the association, as of July 1 drivers of electric cars had 100,838 public charging points with a total capacity of 4.5 gigawatts at their disposal. This means that Germany is well above the EU requirements.
According to the BDEW, the public charging points were occupied an average of 11.6 percent of the time. Depending on the district, there was an occupancy of between 3 and a maximum of 25 percent of the day (over 24 hours). Even during the day – between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. – the average occupancy was never more than 20 percent, according to the BDEW. The association collected these figures for the first time, which is why a comparison with the previous year’s values was not possible according to the association.
Andreae took the figures as evidence that the federal government’s goal of one million publicly accessible charging points by 2030 is technically outdated, since it does not include “the technological leap in charging capacity”. “The charging capacity of vehicles and charging stations has tripled since 2019 and significantly more vehicles can be supplied per charging station.” There are no more excuses as to why electromobility shouldn’t grow faster in line with the climate goals. A 15 million e-car strategy is now needed, which should be specifically aimed at the vehicle side, she demanded.
The President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), Hildegard Müller, recently complained about a lack of public charging facilities. “In order to achieve the goal set, the rate of expansion over the past twelve months would have to be quadrupled,” she told the “Spiegel”.
