The energy industry sees goals in the expansion of electromobility in Germany in danger. The number of registrations for electric cars has increased noticeably since 2020 and the market is growing steadily, said Kerstin Andreae, general manager of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) on Tuesday in Berlin. However, the goal of 15 million e-cars, which according to the coalition agreement should be on the roads by 2030, will not be achieved with the measures taken so far.
Andreae called on the federal government to implement a “15 million e-car strategy”. Referring to a survey conducted by the association among e-car users, she said that the acquisition costs are a crucial point. The reduction in government funding was not helpful. Buyers of pure electric cars have received less support from the state since the beginning of the year.
More tax incentives for buying electric cars?
Andreae did not want to answer questions such as whether there should be more tax incentives for buying an electric car. This is not a matter for the energy industry.
Around one million purely electric cars are currently registered in Germany – with a total of around 48.8 million cars. The goal of 15 million electric cars by 2030 should be an important contribution to achieving climate goals in the transport sector.
The BDEW also called the federal government’s goal of one million publicly accessible charging points by 2030 as “technically outdated”. The charging capacity of vehicles and charging stations has tripled since 2019. This means that significantly more vehicles could be charged at a charging station every day. It is no longer the number that is relevant, but the installed charging capacity. Last year, 80 percent more “ultra-fast charging points” with a charging capacity of over 150 kilowatts were added. There are currently around 80,000 publicly accessible charging points. According to BDEW, around 20 percent more charging capacity is installed in Germany than required by European specifications.
Criticism from the automotive industry
Criticism came from the Association of the Automotive Industry. A spokeswoman warned against throwing the expansion target at the charging points overboard. “That would slow down electromobility.” There is also a lot of catching up to do and improvements to be made in the fast-charging infrastructure. In more than eight out of ten communities in Germany there is not a single quick charging point. The power grid must also be expanded accordingly. “There is a lot of catching up to do here.”
Germany’s largest gas station operator Aral announced that it intends to double the number of its ultra-fast charging points nationwide to 3,000 in the current year. The company, which belongs to the British oil company BP, announced in Bochum that they would invest up to 100 million euros in this. Charging capacities of up to 300 kilowatts are planned. With the appropriate vehicle technology, drivers could obtain green electricity for a range of up to 350 kilometers within ten minutes. The charging stations are located at petrol stations, supermarkets and restaurants.
E-mobility is becoming the future business for gas stations
The business figures of the past year show that e-mobility is increasingly developing into a future business for gas stations, Aral reported.
According to a BDEW “Electromobility Monitor”, federal funding programs are by no means the only driver of the expansion of charging stations. Most companies even waived the funding because it was associated with too much funding bureaucracy. The expansion is now mainly driven by competition, it said.
Andreae said operators expect charging stations to be profitable. However, the average utilization of the charging park is only between 15 and 20 percent. Andreae also emphasized the importance of having a shop in one’s own garage. She called on the federal government to make federally owned areas available.
