Does Europe’s current charging landscape of 900,000 points suffice?

From 2021 to 2024, Europe’s EV charging network experienced an impressive average annual growth rate of 55.4%. This highlights our continent’s strong momentum in expanding its electric vehicle infrastructure.

However, despite this rapid growth, Europe still faces a significant challenge in meeting the European Union’s ambitious targets. Belgium, with a spot in the top five countries, helps set the example.

The Charge Point Monitor provided the latest data on charging infrastructure, sourced from the dedicated analyst site EVMarketsreport. What surfaced in earlier analyses also holds true in the updated case.

The distribution of the 900,000 charge points reached in Europe is heavily skewed toward a few key countries. The Netherlands, Germany, and France collectively account for nearly half of all charge points on the continent. This concentration reflects their advanced market maturity and substantial strategic investments.

Three nations lead the way

The Netherlands leads with 169,216 public charge points, representing 19.5% of Europe’s total. Germany follows closely with 152,332 and France with 119,481. These three nations play a critical role in Europe’s EV landscape, offering extensive coverage in urban and rural areas.

However, the uneven distribution persists, with the top five countries—the Netherlands, Germany, France, the UK, and Belgium—housing the bulk of Europe’s EV infrastructure, leaving other regions underserved.

Together with Finland, Belgium reports baffling growth over the past year, with a surge of 190% in both semi-public and public charging points combined. This is due to high incentives (a 150% tax reduction on writedowns) for companies and self-employed persons, which reached their deadline exactly tomorrow (31^st of August). As the measure has ended, monitoring the consequences of further rollout in Belgium over the upcoming months will be interesting.

However, Belgium, exemplary as it may be, isn’t the best student in the charging infrastructure class. Greece saw an astonishing 480% increase, starting from a smaller base and accounting for only 1% of Europe’s total charge points.

High-power chargers grow fastest

Europe’s charging network has evolved to offer various solutions tailored to different EV needs. Over one year, all charger types – AC, DC, and HPC – saw notable growth. AC chargers, which comprise about 84% of the network, increased by approximately 10%.

DC fast chargers, vital for long-distance travel, grew by around 15%. High-power chargers (HPC) expanded by nearly 25%, underscoring their importance in alleviating range anxiety, which is still regarded as one of the top hurdles blocking EV adoption.

Urban centers are at the forefront of Europe’s charging network, with Dutch cities leading the way. With 13,286 public charge points, Amsterdam is Europe’s most equipped city, followed by London, with 11,321.

Rotterdam and The Hague, with 8,538 and 6,967 charge points, further underscore the Netherlands’ leadership in EV infrastructure. Paris (6,456 charging points), Stockholm (5,773), Gothenburg (5,067), Oslo (4,205), and Antwerp (3,983) also stand out.

Europe’s surpassing 900,000 charge points is a testament to its leadership in electric mobility and remains an impressive result. However, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) estimates that Europe will need up to 8.8 million charge points by 2030 to support the projected surge in EV adoption. The journey is ongoing, and there remains a substantial gap that needs to be filled.