EV charging deployment: What are the next priorities?

This is part of a series of influencer blogs for Economist Impact's rEV Index.

EV sales are rising, but consumers expect more from charging services

According to multiple studies, consumer interest in buying an EV increases significantly with better recharging infrastructure. One example is from the EAST-E project, which focused on recharging infrastructure deployment in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. Research among car users in Slovakia and Czechia demonstrated how positive attitudes towards purchasing an EV grow just by learning about sufficient charging networks. After learning about the chargers available to them, the percentage of those who answered “yes” to whether they would consider purchasing an EV increased from 45% to 64% in Slovakia, and from 25% to 48% in Czechia.

The EU needs millions of charging points of various types to achieve the 2050 climate-neutrality target. The majority will likely be in the output category of normal power in urban areas (up to 22 kW)—mainly in private or semi-public domains—complemented by a mix of normal- and high-powered (above 22 kW) public infrastructure. The “right to plug” should become the norm. With each new construction or retrofit, we should automatically require ducting and cabling to be installed and, ideally, even smart charging systems that are capable of reducing the costs to individuals and ensuring that the infrastructure can play an active role in load balancing and grid flexibility.

Whereas the priority in recent years has mainly been developing infrastructure density, the next deployment phase will need to focus more on customer satisfaction. High value for the customer—delivered through charging availability, ease of recharging, and service quality—should be pursued not only by charge point operators but also through public policies. This is particularly necessary for ultra-fast recharging during long-distance journeys on highways, where EV users require seamless travelling and effective roaming across individual charge point operators and national borders. On highways, customers expect a service level similar to incumbent fossil-fuel alternatives such as easy-to-use hardware, fast charging speeds, amenities, safety and shelter, customer service, and close to 100% uptime operation.

Grid connection might be a bottleneck for charging-infrastructure rollouts

Lessons learned from previous infrastructure deployments illustrate that the distribution grid capacity will be one of the biggest bottlenecks for upcoming rollouts, for both urban and long-distance travelling. Many of the low-hanging fruits in terms of easily deployable recharging points at locations with extra capacity have already been picked. But new charging points might require upgrading the distribution grids or other flexible solutions. This applies to infrastructure in the cities, but is also a considerable challenge for highway recharging hubs requiring megawatts of additional capacity. As the grid connection is often unavailable, we may need to involve multiple stakeholders including private charge point operators, city authorities, highway operators, and electricity distribution system operators (DSOs).

DSOs are essential players in the infrastructure rollout. Unfortunately, the current regulatory environment is often too conservative to provide them with sufficient stimulus. In many EU member states, DSOs are insufficiently encouraged or too tightly regulated to provide swift access to information about grid capacity or to implement speedy reinforcement of infrastructure. Based on the experience of another charging infrastructure initiative in the CEE region—the NEXT-E project—the entire process from gathering data on currently available capacity to the construction of grid connections takes up to 600 days in Czechia and up to 635 days in Hungary. Through regulatory and tariff mechanisms, DSOs need to be better motivated to respond to grid connection requests, be active in grid upgrades, and be more transparent.

The risk of a “two-speed” Europe

There is already a divide emerging in the deployment of EVs and infrastructure across Europe, between the West and the East, and between the North and the South—and there is a significant risk of it deepening. This “two-speed Europe” must be avoided because it could prevent the achievement of EU emissions targets. As reported by ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, the five EU countries with the lowest number of chargers per 100km (penetration of between 0.2 and 0.5) are in the CEE and southern European regions. There is a clear contrast to the most built-up five (penetration of between 6.1 and 47.5), with the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Portugal, and Austria at the top of the ladder. A country’s GDP per capita undoubtedly impacts the speed of the green transition. Moreover, as the prices of older internal combustion engine (ICE) cars sink due to their environmental and financial burden, the CEE region is clearly becoming the graveyard of second-hand vehicles from the West.

The EU Fit for 55 Package—particularly the draft of the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation—should consider the needs of less-developed regions. It applies, for example, when setting national targets for new recharging infrastructure. As currently proposed, the targets are to be tied to actual EV car stocks in each member state. However, without some adjusting mechanism, such an approach would further exacerbate the problem by lowering ambitions in deploying recharging points. In countries with lower EV market share, the target number of chargers relative to EVs must be set much higher (at least in the first few years) or be tied to the overall fleet size to secure a basic network for seamless travel, and ensure that the chargers are there for the EVs that will come.

The EU might also need to introduce a temporary financial mechanism to help with the green transformation. A Green Transition Fund might be required to allow EU citizens in countries with lower GDP per capita to buy EVs. At the end of the day, greenhouse-gas emissions do not recognise national borders.

Find out more about EV readiness across the UK and in other important markets in Europe and globally from the rEV Index.

About the author:

Patrik has professional experience in innovative companies and international projects focused on electric mobility, renewables and energy efficiency. He is the managing partner of Enairgy, a consultancy in e-mobility and renewables, and a managing partner of Espio, a technology startup focused on graphene-based sensors.

Patrik co-founded and currently leads the Slovak Electric Vehicle Association as its Director. He is also Vice President of AVERE – European Association for Electromobility.

Patrik is an alumnus of the Executive MBA program at Carlson School of Management, the University of Minnesota, and WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria. He also holds a Master's degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Matej Bel University, Slovakia.