The German government is quietly abandoning its goal of constructing 1 million electric vehicle charging stations near streets and supermarkets by 2030, as it appears that people prefer to charge their cars at home.
According to a spokesperson from the German Ministry of Transport, this goal is still the official policy. However, insiders have revealed that government officials have acknowledged that they will not continue to pursue this target.
Insiders further revealed that this goal was set as part of the governing coalition agreement in 2021, but it does not reflect technological advancements and fails to meet the evolving preferences of consumers. Additionally, even if these charging stations were built, their utilization rates could be very low.
Currently, Germany has approximately 85,000 public charging stations, with nearly 20% of them being fast-charging stations. However, German consumers prefer installing private charging stations at home, and the number of privately installed chargers is roughly ten times higher than that of public charging stations.
This shift in consumer behavior caught the government off guard and highlights the challenges many European countries face when planning public infrastructure to encourage electric transportation.
Reportedly, the German automotive industry lobbied the government to include this plan in the governing coalition agreement and developed an overall plan in October of last year to benefit from a more extensive charging network.
Ryan Fisher, an analyst at BloombergNEF specializing in charging infrastructure, said, "Overall, getting grid infrastructure projects off the ground and signing agreements early is quite challenging." He estimated that Germany would require around 450,000 charging stations by 2030. "If they end up building 1 million charging stations, that would be too many. But the exact number will depend on the quantity of fast chargers."
The target of "1 million" was based on a study conducted in 2020, which involved stakeholders from the automotive industry, energy sector, scientific community, and politics. The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), which participated in the lobbying efforts, stated that many stakeholders were involved in the study.
Kerstin Andreae, Chairwoman of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), who also participated in the study, said, "This goal did not take into account the significant development potential of cars and charging infrastructure, so it is technically outdated."
Although the proposed extensive charging infrastructure network in the target may become useful with decreasing electric vehicle prices and an increasing proportion of electric vehicle owners without private charging facilities, an independent study in 2020 suggested that Germany may only need between 440,000 and 843,000 public charging points, and that upper limit would only be reached if the development of private charging facilities is slow.
The German Ministry of Transport stated that the federal government has not yet abandoned this goal, and automakers are also calling on European governments to expand charging infrastructure construction to help stimulate electric vehicle sales.
Stefan Gelbhaar, parliamentary spokesperson for transportation policy from Germany's Green Party, said, "It is important to reconsider this goal, especially considering technological developments."
