Electromobility: The situation of charging stations in Europe – Part 1
30. March 2022

There’s no question that developments over the past year alone have clearly shown that electromobility in vehicles is moving forward by leaps and bounds rather than steadily. Certainly, unforeseen crises such as the war in Ukraine can derail any development. But this conflict in particular is to a large extent about energy supply for Germany. There will undoubtedly be huge upheavals, not only to reduce dependence on Russian gas and oil. But even if liquefied gas from Qatar and other countries takes over part of the supply, it will be hard to avoid paying much more attention to power generation. Opponents of electromobility have long used the argument that if all the goals of electrification of private and public transport were achieved, power supply and power transport will pose insoluble problems.

But let’s look at a much more practical and proximate area of electromobility. What about the supply of the increasingly needed charging stations? The EU is aiming for 30 million electric-powered vehicles by the end of the decade. In some countries, bans on the production and registration of internal combustion vehicles are already planned with comparable time targets. To this end, new pollutant standards are being issued as well as regulations adopted, for example, in the construction of houses. This involves prewiring for possible charging points. All new residential buildings with more than 10 parking spaces for cars must be equipped with this. In commercial buildings even every fifth parking space is to be equipped with a charging option. Nevertheless, most drivers of electric cars will have to rely on publicly accessible charging stations. In most existing rental buildings, private charging is virtually impossible. Especially in urban areas, houses with basements for parking and thus retrofittable for e-mobiles are the exception (To be continued).