Charging stations are mainly in demand in urban areas

According to one study, in order to ensure energy savings for electronic cars, the expansion of the charging network should focus on urban areas. (Photo: Adobe Stock / Ronald Rambsch)

According to a study by the state-owned bank KfW, public charging points for electric vehicles should be built primarily in urban areas in the future. So far, the expansion of charging stations in Germany has tended to be even, which does not cover costs in sparsely populated areas. Lead shows, according to the current investigation. In urban areas, on the other hand, higher usage rates can be expected if there is a further increase in electric vehicles. In rural areas, more car owners will have the opportunity to charge their electronic cars in a private parking lot.

The Bank presented the results of its Energy Transmission Scale, which surveyed 4,000 representative households. Then, more than half of the households surveyed stated that they could not imagine buying an e-car due to the lack of charging infrastructure. In urban areas, 56 percent expressed this view. Other arguments against battery-powered vehicles were the shorter range, longer charging times, and higher purchase prices.

In rural areas, between 34 and 38 percent of those surveyed stated that they could generally charge a car in a private parking lot. 25 percent, though, according to their own assessment, don’t have room for that. In urban areas, only 19 percent said they could organize their own charging station. So the need for public charging points is greater there.

The freight network is not growing in proportion to sales

KfW noted that in the past two years the number of electric vehicles has grown three times faster than charging options. Instead of eight electric cars, 23 vehicles will now have to share a public charging point. This is also well below the original EU target of one charging point for every ten electric vehicles.

“If this trend continues, this could become a practical electrical mobility issue.”explained Fritzie Kohler-Jib, chief economist at the German Development Bank. Stronger incentives can only be offered if the increasing demand for freight is met To switch to electrical technology in order to achieve the climate goals of the transport sector.

Current figures from the Federal Transportation Authority (KBA) confirm the very different regional distribution of e-vehicles. While pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids already make up a large proportion of vehicle inventory in some cities and neighborhoods, they do not make up one percent in others. The highest percentages are usually found for urban areas or metropolitan areas, and the lowest for counties or rural areas. Behind the numbers are not only private cars, but also company cars as well as rental and rental car fleets.

At the beginning of the year, Wolfsburg had the highest percentage of e-cars at 9.5 percent. Here, however, many VW-registered vehicles show themselves in the stats, which don’t necessarily have to be on the road in Wolfsburg. Similar effects can also be expected for other motor cities such as Ingolstadt, which ranked third with 7.0 per cent, and Stuttgart, which came in fourth, with 6.7 per cent. On the other hand, Wiesbaden comes in second with a share of 7.3 per cent, even without being the direct home of a large manufacturer.

They are followed by Böblingen in fifth to tenth place with 5.7 percent, Frankfurt am Main (5.2), Munich Land (5.1), Braunschweig (4.9), the city of Munich (4.7) and Düsseldorf (4, 2). In Munich, in addition to high purchasing power, the headquarters of BMW should also feel. In absolute numbers, the state capital of Bavaria, with 35,127 registered e-cars, outperforms Berlin, which is more than twice the size. It’s the highest number of any license area.

At the other end of the scale, on the other hand, there are constantly more rural areas circles. According to KBA data, 0.8 percent of e-cars can be found in Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Ludwigslust-Parchim, Elbe-Elster and Görlitz. It is 0.9 percent in the Salzland region, in Mansfeld-Sudharz, Wittenberg and the Keefhauser region. The German average is 2.4 percent with pure electric vehicles, slightly more than plug-in hybrids.