No government subsidies. No sales.
(Translated form German)
Far too many charging stations
Two-thirds fewer new electric cars than in the previous month: Due to lower subsidies, the number collapsed in September. Now there are too many charging points.
 Too many charging stations or too few electric vehicles?
Photo: Robert Michael/dpa
BERLIN taz | The number of electric cars among new registrations slumped in Germany in September. This development does not come as a surprise, because since last month only private individuals have been receiving the state subsidy – but the majority of newly registered cars are company cars. At the same time, this development exacerbates a phenomenon that the energy industry had already pointed out in the summer: the public charging network for electric cars now significantly exceeds current demand.
New registrations of all-electric vehicles fell to around 31,700 in September – only 14.1 percent of all new registrations. Compared to the previous month, which was marked by the foreseeable end of production, sales fell by almost two-thirds. But even compared to September 2022, sales of electric cars slumped by almost 30 percent. This means that new registrations currently only reach around a fifth of what would be necessary to achieve the government's target of 15 million electric cars by 2030.
This development also affects the operators of the charging infrastructure, who have made considerable advances with their investments. Already in the summer, the industry association of the energy industry, BDEW, had declared that there was now an "oversupply of charging options" in Germany - measured by the number of electric cars. Statistically speaking, there are only 13 purely electric cars for every charging point in Germany. In order to be economical, each station would need a multiple of that.
But politicians have overestimated the need for charging points for years because they did not keep an eye on technical progress. With the significant increase in charging capacities at the stations, charging times have been shortened accordingly. As a result, each charging point can now handle many more vehicles than originally thought.
Oversupply of charging stations
Today, the BDEW assumes that a maximum of 2030,250 public charging points will be sufficient in Germany in 000. As a large charging station operator, EnBW even speaks of only 130,000 to 150,000 high-performance charging points that are needed to supply the targeted number of electric cars. Each of these fast-charging points could cover the needs of 100 electric cars. Unmoved by this, the German government is still sticking to its goal of creating one million publicly accessible charging points by 2022 in its "Charging Infrastructure Master Plan II" of October 2030.
If these were actually set up for the targeted 15 million vehicles, we would have about the same ratio of vehicles and charging points as today. As a result, many charging stations will not be fully used in the future. The BDEW cites current figures that are sometimes pathetic: Between 3 and a maximum of 25 percent of the time, the charging points are occupied, on average 11.6 percent of the day - i.e. about 3 hours. However, according to industry estimates, fast-charging stations need to operate at 15 to 20 percent capacity in order to be economical. Normal charging stations are likely to get by with slightly lower numbers due to the significantly lower investment costs.
Subsidizing the charging infrastructure?
This makes it obvious that many charging stations today are uneconomical. Although companies are avoiding concrete statements, the key figures for the industry are clear: According to the latest figures from the National Centre for Charging Infrastructure, only 23 charging processes per public charging point took place per month – i.e. less than one per day.
While the BDEW rejects permanent subsidies for the charging infrastructure and emphasizes that they must "pay for themselves in the future through their capacity utilization", the federal government does not adopt this market-based approach. In its master plan, the Ministry of Transport still names the municipalities as "key players" in the expansion of charging stations. The public sector should step in where not enough private investors can be found. The German Association of Towns and Municipalities has already protested against such a request : "Cities and municipalities are not petrol station operators."
For charging station operators, the number of e-vehicles would now have to grow rapidly for the business model to work. But just at this moment, the market is stagnating after years of growth. Last year, the share of purely electric cars in new registrations was 17.7 percent, and in the first nine months of 2023 it is barely higher at 18.1 percent. If the next few months for electric vehicles turn out to be as weak as September, the quota of the previous year could even be undercut. |
