Insufficient support for EV charging infrastructure hampers uptake, new report finds

There is still serious underinvestment in the electric vehicle recharging infrastructure across Europe with only one in three EU countries providing incentives, says a report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

The research found specific incentives for EV charging points were found in only 10 out of 28 EU countries, which is hampering uptake of the technology across the continent.

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) cautions that investments need to be stepped up, as future reductions of CO2 emissions from cars and vans are strongly dependent on increased sales of electric and other alternatively-powered vehicles.

This will only happen with an EU-wide roll-out of recharging and refuelling infrastructure.

The EEA pointed out in its report: “Sufficient charging infrastructure is required to give people the confidence that fully electric vehicles will reliably meet their travel needs and help reduce anxiety linked with possible limitations in range.”

Although sales of electrically-chargeable vehicles have increased in line with the overall growth of car sales in recent years, their overall market share remains low (1.4% of total EU car sales), growing by just 0.8% between 2014 and 2017.

Erik Jonnaert, ACEA secretary general, said: “Even though all manufacturers are expanding their portfolios of electric cars, we unfortunately see that market penetration of these vehicles is quite weak and patchy across the EU.

“Consumers looking for an alternative to diesel often opt for petrol or hybrid vehicles, but are not yet making the switch to electrically-chargeable cars on a large scale.

"This new EEA report confirms that a dense EU-wide network of recharging infrastructure is an absolute must if we want consumers throughout the EU to really embrace electric vehicles.”