Two summers from now it should also be very easy to drive to Spain or Croatia with an electric car. Then the number of charging stations will have almost doubled.
On Tuesday, the European member states agreed with parliament on how they will improve the European charging infrastructure. If the European Union wants to achieve its goals for 2030, the number of cars running on petrol must fall sharply in the near future.
At the end of 2027, there must be a charging station every 60 kilometers on busy roads in Europe, where you can also fast charge. The European Union has released 1.5 billion euros to help countries expand the number of charging stations. That is only a fraction of the total costs, which must otherwise be borne by the market.
Trucks must also be able to charge at the charging stations, although LNG, liquefied gas, will also remain available for freight transport.
The member states have also made agreements regarding the availability of hydrogen, a desirable future fuel for cars. From 2030, there must be facilities for refueling with hydrogen in all urban nodes and every 200 kilometers along the highway.
‘Travel across the continent with confidence’
VVD MEP Caroline Nagtegaal was present at the negotiations and also owns an electric car. “I once stood at a dark charging station at five o’clock at night. Then charging your car takes a very long time,” she said followingwards. She is happy with the obligation to properly illuminate the new charging stations and that there must always be an emergency button to alert the police in case of an emergency.
European Commissioner Frans Timmermans expressed his satisfaction. “The transition to zero-emission mobility needs to be supported with the right infrastructure that is ready when you need it. Drivers need to be able to travel across the continent with confidence.”
The agreements mean that almost all countries except the Netherlands must now install charging stations very quickly. There are already 90,000 charging stations in the Netherlands, which is a lot. But here too, not all stations meet the new requirements: the EU has laid down strict requirements for the amount of energy that a charging station must supply.
“The availability of electricity is a particular problem for the Netherlands,” says Nagtegaal. “The Netherlands has to work really hard with the network operator on thicker cables. It should increase capacity.”
Stop selling petrol cars from 2035
On the same day, the European member states gave their final approval to the plan to stop selling cars with a petrol engine from 2035. An agreement had been reached on this some time ago, but when the signature had to be signed, Germany suddenly took a different turn.
Under pressure from the liberal party FDP, which is part of the German coalition, the country went back on its earlier commitment to support the bill. Negotiations with the Germans took place in recent weeks, an agreement was reached on Saturday.
To the relief of the European Parliament, this solution meant that the original agreements remained intact. The European Commission has now promised to come up with separate rules for vehicles that run on climate-neutral synthetic fuels. On behalf of the 27 European countries, the final signature was therefore still received on Tuesday.
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In most countries of the European Union there is a serious shortage of charging points for electric cars along the road network.
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The sustainability of road traffic will come to a halt if more charging stations for electric vehicles are not soon built, writes Gerwin Hop, founder of charging station operator Park ‘n Charge.
