How Is Europe’s EV Charging Infrastructure?

As in other global regions, Europe is seeing an uptick in electric vehicles as automakers such as BMW, Mercedes, and VW roll out all-electric models. The challenge will be creating a sufficient number of charging stations as more EVs emerge.

Compared to other global regions, Europe appears to be progressing in building up its charging infrastructure. According to an article on iea.org, there were 460,000 slow chargers in Europe as of 2022, with the Netherlands, France, and Germany leading the way. Europe ranked second to China and far exceeded the charger growth in the U.S. Still, significant hurdles remain, particularly as demand is forecast to grow, particularly for fast chargers.

At Battery Show Europe in Stuttgart, Germany, from June 18 through 20, several sessions will discuss the efforts to bolster electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Europe. On Tuesday, June 18^th, a session titled, “EV Charging of the Future: Europe Leading the Way,” several speakers will examine the development of Europe’s EV charging infrastructure. The session will also look at profitable business models in the EV charging industry and also how insights from Western Europe infrastructure efforts can be applied to Eastern Europe.

Also on Tuesday morning is a session titled, “Is EV Charging Infrastructure Keeping the Pace?” In this session, Shan Tomouk, Charging and Energy Research Lead at Rho Motion, analyzes the EV charging market and how varying growth rates across European countries are beginning to emerge. He will outline the current challenges such as grid connection issues, reliability and customer experience. He will also examine country-specific indicators to illustrate differing characteristics and behaviors of EV customers across Europe. 

On Wednesday, June 19^th, a session titled. “Integrating Extreme Fast Charge Capability in the EVs of Tomorrow, Today,” will discuss an engineering initiative by EV maker Polestar to achieve fast recharging. Polestar is working with StoreDot to integrate the latter’s fast charging battery technology in its cell manufacturing facilities and battery packs. The two companies plan to demonstrate StoreDot’s XFC technology at full-scale in a Polestar 5 prototype vehicle in 2024.

For more information on Battery Show Europe, go here.