This issue is reflective of a broader challenge across the European Union, prompting the European Commission to unveil plans to upgrade the bloc’s power grids within 18 months, specifically addressing power shortages at EV charging stations.
Despite the EU’s leaders expressing commitment to greener transport, obstacles to progress are increasing, with permitting identified as a major impediment, according to industry groups and energy companies speaking to Reuters.
The process of establishing EV charging hubs varies significantly from one country to another.
In Germany, for instance, delays occurred, including a months-long holdup for a hub due to regulations protecting a single tree, and a 10-month wait for approval for one located along a busy highway, subjected to a noise evaluation.
ChargeUp Europe, an industry group, noted that while the Commission acknowledges permitting challenges, it has not proposed concrete tools or actions. Specific guidelines to expedite permitting in member states are anticipated within the next two years, according to the plan’s timeline. This bottleneck is impeding the deployment of charging hubs across the 27-member bloc, jeopardizing EU targets to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles and hindering broader climate goals.
The Commission, in response, acknowledged the time barrier for connecting EV recharging points to the grid and emphasized the need to address it.
According to Reuters, the setup duration for a fast EV station has increased from six months to an average of two years in recent years, as companies navigate a complex web of rules from federal to municipal levels, as reported by four EV charging companies and the industry’s representative.
The electrification of transportation stands as a crucial element supporting the EU’s objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. To realize this goal, the EU plans to prohibit the sale of CO2-emitting vehicles by 2035 and aims to establish an extensive network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
This ambitious plan has led to challenges for power companies and regulators, as they grapple with an unexpected surge in demand within the EU. Currently, only 5.4% of the total 286 million passenger cars in the region run on alternative fuels, including electric.
While industry executives acknowledge that EU targets appear attainable, they express concerns about meeting the growing demand for electric cars and, particularly, long-haul trucks and buses. These heavy-duty vehicles contribute over 25% of greenhouse gas emissions from EU road transport, responsible for a fifth of the bloc’s overall emissions.
Companies like BP, aiming to deploy over 100,000 car and truck charging stations globally by 2030, highlight the complexity of the process in countries like Germany, where dealing with approximately 800 grid companies is necessary to establish fast hubs for both cars and trucks, Reuters reports.
The ACEA Electric Vehicle Charging Masterplan envisions an investment of around €280 billion by 2030 intended for the installation of charging points, encompassing both hardware and labor, as well as enhancements to the power grid and the development of capacity for renewable energy production dedicated to EV charging.
Within this financial scope, roughly €185 billion is earmarked for passenger cars (PCs), €50 billion for light commercial vehicles (LCVs), and €45 billion for trucks and buses.
The analysis considers both public and nonpublic charging points, defining public charging points as those with nondiscriminatory access. Consequently, charging points at locations like supermarket parking lots and openly accessible parking garages fall under the category of public charging.
To fully transition to electric road mobility in the EU-27, an estimated total investment of about €1,000 billion by 2050 is deemed necessary. This encompasses charging infrastructure (both public and nonpublic), grid upgrades, and renewable energy sources. According to the EV Charging Masterplan, around 30% of this overall capital expenditure should be allocated to infrastructure to curtail CO2 emissions in road transport by 2030, even though electric vehicles are projected to constitute less than 20% of the car parc by the same year.