The Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA) has a significantly faster pace in expanding the charging infrastructure for electric cars required. In order to achieve the goal set by the federal government of one million charging stations by 2030, “the speed of expansion had to be quadrupled over the past twelve months,” said VDA President Hildegard Müller (56) 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. Currently there is therefore in Germany around 90,000 publicly accessible charging points. “Germany has a lot of catching up to do,” said VDA boss Müller. 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. Around 300,000 electric cars and plug-in hybrids were newly registered in the first half of the year, accounting for almost a quarter of all new registrations in June.
In addition to a better charging infrastructure, VDA President Müller also calls for an expansion of the power grid: This plays a key role in the success of e-mobility, “and there is a lot of catching up to do here.” The power grid should not become “the bottleneck of e-mobility,” Müller told the news magazine.