German public e-car charging spots up 19% since April – BDEW

BDEW said that 33,107 public loading spots were currently registered, with fast-chargers accounting for about 10%, but added that more electric vehicles were needed to turn charging stations into a profitable business

FRANKFURT: The number of charging spots for electric vehicles in Germany has grown by 19 per cent since April, industry association BDEW said, unfazed by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

BDEW said that 33,107 public loading spots were currently registered, with fast-chargers accounting for about 10 per cent, but added that more electric vehicles were needed to turn charging stations into a profitable business.

“The energy sector has borne massive costs to build and operate charging infrastructure. Electric charging stations are still not profitable due to the low number of e-cars,” BDEW managing director Kerstin Andreae said.

According to BDEW calculations there are about 240,000 fully electric cars as well as 200,000 plug-in hybrids registered in Europe’s top economy. The current charging network would need at least 550,000 fully electric vehicles to be viable, BDEW said.

Source: reuters