News
23 Jul 2019, 14:07
Benjamin Wehrmann

Lack of charging options in apartment buildings hurdle to Germany’s e-car roll-out – study

Clean Energy Wire

Most residents of German apartment buildings are unable to charge an electric car at home, according to a study by influential drivers’ club ADAC. Only 4 percent of apartment buildings assessed had a power connection in the garage, and only half of these a charging device. With apartment blocks the most common form of housing for German city dwellers, this is expected to hinder the roll out of e-mobility, the study finds. ADAC says high costs, lack of demand from residents and regulatory uncertainties have kept landlords from installing charging facilities, and only about a quarter of those surveyed planned to do so within the next three years. “Given these circumstances, it will scarcely be possible to make e-mobility available for everyone who is interested,” ADAC said. E-car charging stations at home are essential, the club says, because e-car owners do around 60 percent of charging at home. 

By May this year, Germany had around 17,400 public or semi-public charging points across the country, according to energy industry group BDEW, but demand for charging points is projected to rise substantially. A trial by energy company E.ON showed that investments in grid infrastructure to accommodate the growing number of e-cars is likely to be much lower than anticipated.

All texts created by the Clean Energy Wire are available under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0)” . They can be copied, shared and made publicly accessible by users so long as they give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
« previous news next news »

Ask CLEW

Researching a story? Drop CLEW a line or give us a call for background material and contacts.

Get support

+49 30 62858 497

Journalism for the energy transition

Get our Newsletter
Join our Network
Find an interviewee