Germany now has 7,407 public charging points; 14,531 filling stations
24 March 2017
A survey by Germany’s BDEW (Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft), an association of energy and water companies, found that the number of public charge points in the country has grown to 7,407 as of the end of 2016. 890 new charging points have been added to since mid-2016—an increase of almost 12%. 292 of the new points are DC fast charging. As a comparison, Germany had 14,531 filling stations (with multiple pumps, or “filling points”) active in 2016, down from a peak 46,091 in 1970.
According to the data, utilities have now equipped 1,142 cities and towns with at least one publicly accessible charging point. North Rhine-Westphalia is the state with the overall most charging points (1,603), followed by Baden-Württemberg (1,494) and Bavaria (1,080). Among German cities, Berlin is the leader with 536; Stuttgart (375) and Hamburg (292) follow.
The increase in charging points shows that the energy sector is a key driver of future-oriented and climate-friendly drive technology. The operation of public charging stations is but rarely economic, due to the small number of electric vehicles. The charging stations support program launched by the Federal Government is therefore extremely important.
It is necessary to provide more stimulation for future research and development and to develop technologies such as inductive charging. Here new customer segments can be opened up.
—Stefan Kapferer, CEO of the BDEW
Petrol station down from 46,091 to 14,531 is an interesting trend.
E-charging facilities up to 7,407 is an accomplishment. It will not be long for Germany to have more e-charging stations than petrol stations.
Will Japan, So-Korea, USA, China and other EU countries do (relatively) as well?
Posted by: HarveyD | 24 March 2017 at 01:09 PM
You can't compare filling stations and charge points.
You can refuel a car with petrol in 5 minutes, while it takes 30 minutes - many hours to recharge a car.
Posted by: mahonj | 24 March 2017 at 03:38 PM
To even the playing field you need e-stations with 6 times as many charging spots. That is not impossible to do?
Posted by: HarveyD | 27 March 2017 at 09:08 AM
Correct, but electric cars are mostly charged at home. Many ecar users almost never use public charging points.
Posted by: Alain | 27 March 2017 at 09:52 AM
EV car companies and charger companies can work with the government to install as many chargers as we need over time. A lack of planning and cooperation are parts of the problem.
Posted by: SJC | 28 March 2017 at 09:22 AM