There is an alarming gap between the current charging infrastructure and that of necessary to reach the climate targets of Europe by 2030, according to a study by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
Electric cars sales have sped up in the past years, increasing 18-fold between 2017 and 2023 and three times faster than charging point installation in the same period, said the ACEA report.
However, installing charging stations has to speed up if the EU wants to meet its climate targets, says the ACEA.
"We need mass-market adoption of electric cars in all EU countries to achieve Europe's ambitious CO2-reduction targets. This will not happen without widespread availability of public charging infrastructure right across the region," said ACEA's Director General Sigrid de Vries.
How many charging stations are missing?
There are a total of 630,000 charging stations across the European Union.
According to the European Commission, 3.5 million charging points should be installed by 2030. That translates into installing around 410,000 public charging points per year (or nearly 8,000 per week), the report said, adding that the number last year was 150,000 (or less than 3,000 per week on average).
Moreover, the association estimates that the continent needs a staggering 8.8 million charging points by 2030 to meet its climate targets. To reach this, the EU needs to have 1.2 million chargers installed every year (or more than 22,000 per week), which is eight times the current rate.
"Investments in public charging infrastructure must be urgently ramped up if we are to close the infrastructure gap and meet climate targets," said de Vries.
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has also released a report, also calling for a boosting of the charging infrastructure across the continent. It noted that there were large differences across different countries. Seventy percent of charging points are in France, Germany and the Netherlands.
