Transport Brief - EV charging: the current political scene versus consumers’ current needs

This week will be marked by some important events in the world of electric vehicles. Provisional EU tariffs on imported Chinese EVs are set to kick in on 4 July, while the EPP, the biggest party in the EU Parliament, dominated by German conservatives, will decide on how to execute its proposed revision of the ban on combustion engine cars.

These high-level policy moves will send mixed signals for the industry, but to what extent will they influence consumers’ current needs?

According to a recent study by the European Commission’s Alternative Fuels Observatory, a reference portal for alternative fuels, 57% of European drivers who don’t drive a battery electric vehicle (BEV) would consider buying one.

It comes as no surprise that surveyed drivers identified limited recharging options, both public and private, as one of the main disadvantages of using a BEV.

And for those who already drive BEVs, public recharging should entail “a fully operational recharging station when arriving, short or no waiting time to access a recharging point, and clear and transparent price information”.

For all that we know about consumers’ charging wishes, there still seems to be some disagreement on the number of charging points needed.

For the European Commission, 3.5 million charging points are needed by 2030. In contrast, European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) finds that 8.8 million charging points is a more realistic figure.

But is the total number of charging points what really matters?

“Targets by themselves are an ineffective policy measure,” EV charging company Chargepoint told Euractiv.

For the company, more focused targets, such as those proposed in the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), which encompass charging point capacity and reflect the size of EV fleet of member states “are leading to a more consistent and comprehensive development of charging infrastructure across Europe”.

For example the AFIR requires that every BEV registered in an EU country must be matched by a publicly accessible charging capacity of at least 1.3 kW.

However, these are seen as a minimum floor by the EV charging industry association, Charge Up Europe, which expects public charging capacity to exceed AFIR targets.

These may seen like details, but they matter. Given what consumers have told us about their needs, the right charging network could effectively make or break Europe’s shift to EVs.

Car manufacturers, energy companies and environmental NGOs have issued an urgent warning against revoking the EU’s 2035 de facto ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars ahead of the meeting of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday (27-28 June)

One of the European Union’s major climate laws, the effort-sharing framework, is being called for revision just as the European Commission is about to enact it.

Euractiv has seen the Hungarian EU presidency’s detailed plans for the Environment, Energy and Transport Council meetings in the second half of 2024, which outline when Budapest plans to advance individual existing legislative proposals, agree a COP29 position, and present its plans for geothermal energy.

US prosecutors are meeting with Boeing and fatal-crash victims’ relatives as a 7 July deadline looms for the Justice Department to decide whether to criminally charge the planemaker, according to two people familiar with the matter and correspondence reviewed by Reuters.

[Edited by Donagh Cagney/Zoran Radosavljevic]

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