Germany is building too many EV charging points, says energy industry

Figures used by the government for planning the buildout of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Germany are “massively” overestimating the actual need for new charging points, said energy industry lobby group BDEW.

The head of BDEW  Kerstine Andreae said that the plans far exceed demand and that it could have unnecessary economic impacts on grid operators.

“[The government’s plans are] oversized and will only be possible with subsidies or by imposing uneconomical supply quotas,” Andreae said in reaction to a report from the National Coordination Board for Charging Infrastructure, which was presented by the transport ministry.

The report said the need for charging points is more than 40 percent higher than what is currently planned by 2030 to comply with the EU’s alternative fuel infrastructure regulation (AFIR), meaning an additional capacity of about 8 gigawatts.

“It is simply not profitable to build charging points that in the end are hardly being used,” Andreae argued, adding further costs could arise for grid operators who must factor in the transport ministry’s forecast demand in their planning.

Moreover, the transport ministry’s report trimmed down the target of having 15 million EVs on the road by 2030 to 13.4 million.

“Instead of taking measures to reach the target, it is now being put into question,” Andreae said. This would further reduce the market potential for charging infrastructure operators and continue to stall progress in the transport sector’s emission reductions, she added. “We urgently need more affordable EV models to reach the target.”

The availability of sufficient charging infrastructure is regarded as one of the key requirements for ensuring a comprehensive roll-out of electric vehicles, whose sales in Germany have suffered from last year’s subsidy cuts.

Grid regulators have warned that a fast adoption of EVs could lead to regional grid overload, triggering a debate about forced throttling of power supply for e-car owners during demand peaks.