April 2022

Like it or not, the electric revolution is underway in the automotive world. In Europe, registrations of electrically rechargeable cars (fully electric or rechargeable hybrids) have increased tenfold in five years, representing 1.7 million sales last year, or 18% of the total. These figures are provided by ACEA, the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers. And it also warns of the importance of accelerating the deployment of the network of charging stations.

Nearly 7 million charging points in 2030

To quickly achieve the objectives of reducing CO2 emissions by more than half, the automotive sector, and more broadly that of road transport, has no choice but to switch to electric vehicles. Of course, there are alternative technologies on which the various players are working, such as synthetic fuels or green hydrogen, but electrification is the fastest and most efficient process. The technology is mastered and the result is convincing since an electric vehicle does not emit any greenhouse gases during its use. To avoid the gigantic financial penalties imposed by Europe in the event of non-compliance with the emission standards of their ranges, the manufacturers have therefore dealt with the most urgent matters by betting above all on electricity.

As everyone knows, the problem with an electric car is its ability to charge. This takes a lot of time and therefore monopolizes a charging point for long hours (a little less on DC fast chargers, but they are still rare). The more cars of this type there are, the more charging stations are needed. For 2030, Europe would need to have 6.8 million charging points, with one terminal sometimes offering several. It is enormous. And to achieve this, it is now necessary to multiply by seven the number of charging points installed each week. According to the builders’ association, which called on the McKinsey design office, no less than 14,000 public charging points should be installed. every week in the Union! Suffice to say that if we do not work twice as hard (or rather sevenfold), the objectives will be impossible to achieve.

For a few billion euros

Obviously, installing terminals has a cost. The ACEA estimates it at 8 billion euros… per year. Which, according to the association, “represents only a fraction of the total investments” since it estimates that no less than 280 billion euros will have to be invested in public and private terminals, but also in the modernization of the electricity network and the strengthening of renewable energy production capacities.

Through these declarations, the ACEA therefore tries to put pressure on the European authorities, so that they speed up the investment process. However, the installation of terminals, their management and the delivery of energy remain the responsibility of the private sector. It is not up to the public authorities to replace gas station attendants but to facilitate the implementation of these terminals. Note also that if we are used to speaking of “public terminals”, this means that they are accessible, even partially, to all, with or without payment. Nothing prevents a company or an individual from declaring its terminals as public. So let’s not imagine that every week we will install 14,000 terminals on the edge of the road: the recharging of an electric vehicle is carried out in more than 90% of cases at home or at work.