Germany has announced that it will require all its fuel filling stations across the country to set up electric car charging stations, according to a Reuters report. The chargers will be installed under its EUR 130 billion economic recovery plan to help remove refuelling concerns and boost consumer demand. The move is expected to boost EV (electric vehicle) demand along with a wider stimulus plan under which the country plans to raise taxes to penalise owning large polluting ICE (internal combustion engine) SUVs and provide a EUR 6,000 subsidy towards EV costs. The German government’s announcement follows that of the French plan announced last week to boost electric car sales.
Energy storage specialist The Mobility House, with investors including Daimler and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, opines that it is a very clear commitment to battery-powered vehicles and establishes electric mobility as a technology of the future. The move puts Germany in the leading group of battery electric vehicle support internationally.
Germany plans to spend EUR 2.5 billion on battery cell production and charging infrastructure, which is an attractive field for oil majors, utilities and carmakers, with some vying dominance including Shell, Engie and Tesla.
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The demand for electric cars is mostly constrained by concerns over limited range of vehicles. Electric cars only made up 1.8% of new passenger car registrations in Germany last year, with diesel and petrol cars accounting for 32% and 59.2%, respectively.
Germany’s plan would give a substantial boost to electric vehicle adoption in the country, Diego Biasi, chairman and co-founder in Quercus Real Assets, says.
About 97% of the reason why customers are not buying electric cars is range anxiety. This move is a way to try and fix this range anxiety since EV users now know a petrol station is always open, he added.
