Number of charging points increased significantly

Dhe number of charging points for electric cars in Germany increased last year – but for the federal government’s goals, the expansion would have to proceed much faster. More than 80,500 public charging points were installed in Germany as of January 1, like the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) based on current data from the Federal Network Agency on Tuesday. That was around 35 percent more than at the same time last year.

Installed capacity increased even more – by more than 40 percent to 2.47 gigawatts (GW). The reason for this is the high growth rate in the so-called ultra-fast charging points with charging capacities from 150 kilowatts (kW).

“The figures clearly show that there has been an enormous technological leap in charging performance,” said Kerstin Andreae, Chair of the BDEW Executive Board, on Tuesday. “Vehicles can charge faster and faster, the charging station operators adapt their technology to this and offer the higher charging capacity.”

The federal government wants to see around one million public charging points in operation by the end of the decade. Starting this year, more than 131,000 new points would have to be added every year. That would be significantly more than there is currently in total. A well-developed charging network is considered an important prerequisite for electric mobility in road traffic.