Government must increase support for e-car charging stations – report

The rollout of additional electric vehicle charging stations is a chicken-and-egg problem, according to a new report published by the German Economic Institute (IW). Before purchasing an e-car, potential buyers want to be assured that there are enough charging stations around them. At the same time, before building the necessary charging infrastructure, companies want to be certain that enough customers will use their stations so as to ensure a return on their investment. Although the state already promotes the construction of publicly accessible charging stations by providing up to 60 percent of investment costs, it is still virtually impossible to cover the costs of selling electricity, IW writes. To counter this problem, the federal government must increase financing for the construction of charging stations, according to the institute.

Read the report in German here.

For background, read the dossier The energy transition and Germany’s transport sector and the article Economy minister Altmaier calls for mobility transition push.