Some experts have suggested that Germany may have too many electric car chargers as the Government looks to push more drivers towards zero emission vehicles.
Till Gnann, coordinator for electromobility at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research in Karlsruhe, told the Spiegel newspapere, admitted that Germany had “quite an oversupply”.
According to the German Federal Network Agency, there are more than 154,000 charging stations across the country.
This is almost double the number of EV chargers in the UK, with drivers having 73,699 devices to choose from along their travels.
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There are estimated to be around 154,000 electric vehicle chargers across Germany
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Data from Germany’s grid agency (BNetzA) suggests that around 31,000 of the fast chargers have a capacity of at least 22 kilowatts.
In comparison, there are 14,471 rapid or ultra-rapid charging devices across 5,850 different charging locations.
Zapmap suggests that while rapid and ultra-rapid chargers only make up around 20 per cent of total devices, they account for around 60 per cent of the total capacity across the country.
Germany also has far loftier goals for total installation numbers by the end of the decade. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel called for one million public chargers, compared to the 300,000 earmarked for the UK.
A survey from the Allensbach Institute found that 57 per cent of Britons still had concerns about switching to an electric vehicle because of a lack of charging stations, although many suggested this had to do with a lack of information on the topic.
The Spiegel newspaper reported that Germany meets the European Union requirement for network density by 152 per cent.
Germany aims to have 15 million electric passenger cars on the road by the end of the decade, according to Clean Energy Wire.
On Wednesday, Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled a new £65million investment boost for Connected Kerb to increase the number of on-street charging devices around the UK.
The Government aims to have 300,000 public chargers installed by the end of the decade to ensure drivers have the confidence to switch to a zero emission vehicle.
The funding boost has been backed by the managing director of Renault UK Adam Wood, who said it was “especially welcome” and was a “critical requirement”.
It comes as the Swedish Electricians’ Association has reported Tesla to the police for the second time in less than a year for “violating the Electrical Safety Act”.
The union claims that the EV manufacturer has carried out electrical installation work without being registered with the Swedish Electrical Safety Authority.
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The Merklinger train station has more than two hundred electric vehicle charging spaces
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According to the Norwegian newspaper Arbetet, companies are required to register with the Swedish Electrical Safety Authority to work systematically with electrical safety.
Tesla has not responded to Arbetet for a comment regarding the claims.
