BDEW Electromobility Monitor: Charging Infrastructure Grows Rapidly – Utilization Remains Low

In the first half of 2024, the rapid expansion course of recent years for charging infrastructure continued: A total of 16,063 public charging points were added, bringing the total to 134,226 charging points as of 1st July 2024. This is an increase of nearly 14 percent within six months. Germany has also made significant progress in charging capacity: This increased from 5.4 gigawatts (GW) in January 2024 to 6.3 GW in July this year – an increase of around 17 percent. In the comparison period of 2023, 15,408 charging points and 0.8 GW were added. The expansion of ultra-fast chargers (HPC) reached a record high of more than 3,000 charging points in six months. Thus, the German charging market continues to exceed the new European minimum targets for installed charging capacity by double.

However, the low occupancy rate of charging stations is problematic: On average nationwide, only 14.5 percent of charging stations were simultaneously occupied, with a declining trend. The occupancy of charging stations is regionally different and varies between 3 to 23 percent. There is high availability, especially of ultra-fast charging points, across the area: In 70 percent of the search areas defined for the “Germany Network,” HPC charging locations have already been established even without this funding.

“Today’s automotive summit must keep in mind that the charging infrastructure sector in Germany is delivering: In the first half of the year, the record values from 2023 were even exceeded in both the number and performance. The sector continues to expand ambitiously despite the low occupancy. Companies are investing in the expansion of charging stations based on the goal of having 15 million e-cars on the market by 2030 and the existing regulatory framework conditions that ensure this goal is achieved. Companies need reliability here because only with more e-cars on the roads does the further expansion of charging stations remain an attractive business model,” appealed Kerstin Andreae, Chairwoman of the BDEW Chief Executive Officers.