With the growth of the market share of electric cars, the obvious and well-known consequence is that more charging points are needed and will be in the future. Where we in the Netherlands are one of the frontrunners in our coverage ratio (but we in the Netherlands are still growing daily in charging range throughout the country), we feel the need to expand everywhere.
In an earlier blog we wrote about electric driving and charging abroad (Europe) and what you should take into account. European countries recognize the need to (permanently) expand their charging network and are taking serious steps in this regard.
Clear plans and actions
The finding that the number of charging points must be expanded is of course one. The actual planning AND implementation to make that a reality is another. Many European countries and cities want and need to be concrete and focused on making plans and their first implementation. Within cities such as Antwerp, for example, we see considerable concrete actions in the field of an expanding network, but at the same time there must be a broader path for action throughout Europe.
First some numbers:
Consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY) and Eurelectric recently wrote in a report that, assuming growth towards 2035, we will need to have approximately 65 million charging points in that year to be able to charge approximately 130 million electric vehicles. Of that 65 million, about 85% will be a home charger (charging at home), leaving about 10 million public charging points.
for imaging; at the moment there are less than 500,000 and almost 5 million electric cars are driving on European roads.
The challenges
It should come as no surprise that there are such significant, serious challenges with growth demand. A growing network of charging points is not a simple matter of ‘just installing’. Public charging points in particular require making good choices about locations that make strategic sense. At the same time, you also have to deal with the public space and you do not want proliferation.
The granting of permits and connections sometimes also takes a lot of time, which as a delaying factor influences the pace of action.
Not every home is suitable for a home charger, but even if we take good steps in this direction, we will also have to think about how we can use our electricity network for this purpose. When we all want to charge at the same time, that creates a demand that our current infrastructure cannot meet.
It is therefore no surprise that ambitious actions are needed to keep up with and facilitate the desired growth in electric driving. At Ecotap we like to think along with organizations and municipalities/governments to find the best way to fill in growth with charging options that fit.
View our options in business and public charging points or the options that exist for home chargers. We are happy to help you forward!