In order to provide a basic fast-charging infrastructure for medium- and long-haul traffic, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) is putting out tenders for the construction and operation of 1,000 fast charging locations, each with several charging points. (Earlier post.) This will create several thousand new fast charging points: the Germany network (Deutschlandnetz).

These fast charging stations will complement the already existing large fast-charging locations and thus provide a nationwide and needs-based fast charging infrastructure throughout Germany. Sites must support up to 300 kW charging.

The next fast charging station must be reachable in 10 minutes! That's what we set out to do and that’s what we will deliver. Charging must be possible anytime and anywhere in Germany. This is the only way we can get people excited about climate-friendly mobility and switch them from an internal combustion engine to an electric car. An important factor here is the price at the charging station. That is why we set an upper price limit of currently 44 cents per kWh in our tender, which is below the diesel price . In total, we are taking around 2 billion euros into our hands to set up the 1000 fast-charging locations—a strong signal that shows how serious we are with the switch to climate-friendly mobility.

—Federal Minister Andreas Scheuer

The construction and operation of the Germany network will be awarded as part of two separate tenders:

1. Regional lots; and

2. Nationwide lots on highways.

BMVI’s announcement focuses on the publication of the 900 search areas for regional lots and the price model. In the invitation to tender, an upper price limit of 44 cents per kWh is envisaged. By defining a price model for charging at the locations of the Germany network, it should be ensured that there are no harmful repercussions on the parallel developing market and that users find fair prices at the same time. The upper price limit of 44 cents per kWh was chosen taking into account both market economy and climate policy aspects.

The step from funding to tendering is a paradigm shift in government support for the expansion of charging infrastructure in Germany. In addition to the BMVI's funding programs for public and non-public charging infrastructure, there is now an approach in which the winners of the tendering process are contractually obliged to set up and guarantee the operation of the charging points. The evaluation criteria include costs, concept and customer friendliness.

The 900 search areas are distributed over 23 regional lots in a total of 6 regions (north-west, north-east, central Germany, south-east, south-west and west). These search areas specify a specific area, for example around a traffic junction. A fast charging location with at least four and up to 16 fast charging points should be created in each search area. The bidders must find or find suitable locations within these search areas.

This procedure addresses regional operators as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The regional lots will be advertised on 15 September 2021.

The nationwide highway lots include around 200 locations on unmanaged rest areas along the federal highways. They should create a seamless charging infrastructure along the highways. This call for tenders is intended in particular to address companies that are active throughout Germany and Europe. The tendering of the nationwide highway lots will be carried out in autumn by the Autobahn GmbH/

When determining the need for search areas and their equipping with charging points, the existing fast charging infrastructure with more than 150 kW of power was taken into account. The federal government also defines minimum technical requirements and quality standards at the locations of the fast charging network and ensures compliance with them.