The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €1.8 billion German scheme to support the roll out of high power charging stations for electric vehicles in Germany.
1. High power charging stations
With the EU support, Germany will have 8,500 high power charging points, which will allow recharging electric vehicles within 15 to 30 minutes, in approximately 900 locations in the country where there are no HPC points or where the existing points are insufficient to address anticipated demand. “This €1.8 billion scheme will enable Germany to roll out the necessary high-power charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in urban, suburban and rural areas,” said Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager in charge of competition policy.
#EUStateAid #EUGreenDeal Commission 🇪🇺 approves €1.8 billion German 🇩🇪 scheme to roll out high power charging infrastructure for electric vehicles
— EU Competition (@EU_Competition) December 14, 2022
🔗⬇️https://t.co/bBnSIfPspI pic.twitter.com/heHP2RCw0V
2. Infrastructure
Under the scheme, the aid will take the form of direct grants and recurring payments covering part of the operating costs. The beneficiaries will be companies with experience in the construction and operation of recharging infrastructure, which will be selected following a bidding process. The measure is in line with the objectives of the EU executive’s European Green Deal and ‘Fit for 55′ package.
The scheme will accelerate the deployment of electric mobility and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the European Green Deal objectives, while limiting undue competition distortions.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy
3. EVs in Germany
Germany aims for 15 million EVs on the road by 2030, while the EU is seeking to ban the sale of regular combustion engine cars as of 2035. Leading German car manufacturers have set clear timelines to electrify their fleets, although some argue net zero is still unrealistic. Volkswagen plans to sell 50% EVs by 2030 and nearly 100% by 2040, while Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz, is planning to go all-electric by 2030 “where conditions allow”.
In 2021, China topped the global sales charts with more EVs sold than the rest of the world combined, and almost five times more than Germany, which was in second place, data from Statista reveals.
