Half Million EV Charging Points in the European Union but More is Needed

Europe EV charging station market

Europe is currently ranked second to China in terms of e-mobility. However, China's statistics far exceed those of Europe and any other region in the world. In 2022, China had already installed more than 1.7 million EV charger points, whereas Europe couldn't even reach half of that number. The market for EV charging stations reached USD 9.8 billion in China, in 2022. In Europe electric vehicle charging station market was valued at USD 4.1 billion for the same year. Despite this, Europe's EV charging infrastructure market is booming at a rate that surpasses China's. 

Source: IEA

Source: IEA

There are things that China did a lot earlier than others to make EVs and EV charging infrastructure ubiquitous in the country. The Chinese government began subsidizing electric car sales in 2010 and also enforced a standard plug for EV charging, which led to the high adoption of EVs. Europe has recently drafted some ambitious targets for EVs to align with its “Fit 55 Package”, the EU’s initiative to reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels). Emissions from the transport sector have been rising since the 1990s, accounting for nearly 20% of total EU GHG emissions.  

The European Parliament aimed high in October 2022 by voting for a regulation on the alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR) to ensure a smooth transition to renewable zero-carbon fuel. The regulation highlights the need to increase the power level of public charging, stimulate fast charging deployment, and enable swift deployment of electric charging infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles.  

Where do people charge their electric cars? 

Residential charging 

In Europe, 70% of EV charging occurs at home or at work, where charging outlets have lower power output and longer charging durations, resulting in lower costs. This makes charging at home and at work the most economical option for EV customers. However, providing charging solutions for residents living in apartment buildings, which represent 46% of EU inhabitants, can be challenging, as reported in ChargeUp Europe's State of the Industry 2022 publication. The main obstacle is the shared parking garages, which receive electricity from the common area meter, making it difficult to install personal EV chargers. In addition, local regulations often prohibit direct connections between charging stations in parking garages and corresponding flats. The ongoing revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) presents an opportunity to address this issue. 

Almost 80% of residential EV chargers in Europe (90% if we include Benelux) were sold in DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and France corresponding with the existing distribution of EVs in these countries.  

Residential EV chargers are AC chargers with charging power between 7.4 and 22 kW. Each charging point receives more than four charging sessions per week, totaling an average of 100 kWh/week. More than 95% of home charging sessions take place between 12 PM and 8 AM.  
 

Workplace charging 

It's critical to offer workplace charging, especially for individuals without access to a home charger. Nordic countries and France have the highest share of workplace charging at 60% combined, followed by Benelux and DACH. Workplace chargers usually offer AC charging with a capacity of 22 kW. Despite its significance, workplace charging constitutes less than half of the total residential charging units. 

Each workplace charging point receives more than eight charging sessions on average for each week, totaling 400 kWh/ week. Around 75% of workplace charging sessions happen between 8 am and 4 pm, with the remaining 25% happening between 4 pm and 12 am. 

Public charging 

Public charging options include AC and DC charging points. The majority of publicly available charging infrastructure are AC charging stations with a maximum of 22 kW power. Countries with a high density of charging points tend to offer more AC chargers than DCs.

The latest data from the European Alternative Fuel Observatory (EAFO) recorded nearly 550,000 public charging points operational within the European Union by the end of Q2 2023. This count is distributed as 11% DC chargers and 89% AC chargers. Notably, Q2 2023 saw the presence of over 480,000 AC chargers, signifying a remarkable 48% increase compared to the corresponding period in the previous year. Simultaneously, DC chargers demonstrated an impressive 106% growth during the same period.

The shift in the composition of charging infrastructure is noteworthy. DC chargers, which accounted for only 5% at the beginning of 2020, have seen a substantial rise, reaching 11.4% by the end of Q2 2023. This transition emphasizes the increasing significance of DC charging technology in the evolving landscape of electric mobility.

Source: European Alternative Fuels Observatory 

Charging points can also be categorized as "fully" public or "semi-public". Fully public charging points are typically found on the street or along highways and are available 24/7. Semi-public charging points are located on private property and have access restrictions, such as limited hours or the required use of associated facilities. Examples include charging points in car parks, underground garages, supermarkets, and hotels. 

A study by GridX recorded a total of 137,258 charging stations across 28 countries (25 EU countries plus Norway, UK, and Switzerland). Most of these stations (46%) have two charging points. This is followed by charging stations with four charging points (19%), then one and three charging points as the third most common (10%). Only 14% of stations have five or more chargers, and only 1% can simultaneously serve 20 or more vehicles. 

A few stations have 100 charging points or more. But these stations are exceptions, certainly not the norm, as only 0.03% of charging stations fall into this category. 0.15% of stations provide 50 or more charging points. 

Uneven distribution of charging infrastructures

ACEA's findings published in June 2022 revealed a disparity in the distribution of public EV charging points across the EU. In 2021, half of the charging infrastructure is located in just two countries, the Netherlands and Germany, which make up only 10% of the EU's land mass, leaving the remaining 90% to share the remaining 51.2% of charging infrastructure.  

The situation slightly changed in 2022. While the Netherlands and Germany still host nearly 40% of all public chargers in the region, other countries have begun to catch up with their deployments. Nevertheless, the issue of disparity still persists, albeit to a lesser extent. 

ACEA's data also points to a clear divide between Western and Eastern Europe, with Western Europe enjoying huge advantages in terms of infrastructure compared to its Eastern counterpart. This notion is backed by a gridX report on EV charging infrastructure.  Measuring the number of charging points per 100,000 people, gridX’s data estimated an average of 92 charging points per 100,000 inhabitants across 28 European countries. However, more than half of the countries in the research do not reach that ratio.   

Source: Statzon/ gridX 

Norway, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Austria as the top 5 countries with the best infrastructure providing 538, 310, 279, 265, and 198 charging points, respectively, per 100 000 inhabitants. Countries with less than 92 charging points on average are mostly located in the eastern and southern parts of Europe with Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania having less than 10 charging points per 100 000 inhabitants.  

12 countries in the eastern and southern parts of the region noticeably indicate delayed e-mobility progress. All of them have less than 300 EVs or less than 60 CPs per 100,000 inhabitants. These countries are Italy, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Hungary, Czechia, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, Poland, and Romania. 

The unequal distribution of EV infrastructure correlates with a discrepancy in the adoption of EVs between affluent and less affluent European countries. Four Western European nations with high GDPs, namely Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, and Denmark, account for nearly 75% of electric car sales in the EU. The remaining quarter of sales is spread across 23 member states. 

Countries with a GDP of EUR 46,000 or more are expected to have a 15% or higher market share of EV sales, whereas countries with an average GDP of below EUR 17,000 are likely to have a market share of less than 3%, 2021 data shows. The fact that the average EV price has risen certainly could slow down the rate of EV adoption in lower-income countries. The average price of EVs in Europe climbed from EUR 48,942 (USD 48,757) in 2015 to EUR 55,821 (USD 55,610) in 2022.