Federal government's master plan for charging infrastructure II favours appropriate measures

The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) welcomes the Charging Infrastructure Master Plan II that was approved by the Federal Cabinet today.

VDA President Hildegard Müller: “The expansion of the charging infrastructure for e-vehicles is one of the most urgent infrastructure tasks for Germany. The master plan for charging infrastructure II adopted today contains many important and sensible measures and thus creates the basis for a noticeable acceleration in the expansion of the charging infrastructure. The decision is an important step on the way to a nationwide and powerful charging infrastructure in Germany.

It is now crucial that the joint task of charging infrastructure is accepted by all stakeholders and, in particular, that the measures in the master plan are implemented quickly and consistently. A state control function is indispensable in terms of mobility services of general interest and a nationwide supply of rural areas. The establishment of the interministerial charging infrastructure working group is therefore very welcome.”

Important course setting for future topic

The master plan rightly assigns a key role to the accelerated and forward-looking expansion of the power grid. It thus creates a crucial prerequisite for the accelerated expansion of the charging infrastructure. Binding deadlines for grid connection could further speed up the expansion of the charging infrastructure. The anchored audit mandate to introduce binding deadlines should therefore be implemented as soon as possible.

Thanks to bidirectional charging, e-cars can make an important contribution to the intelligent use of renewable energies in the future and thus to the stabilization of the power grid as mobile storage devices. The master plan rightly takes into account the great potential of this concept - the necessary regulatory course setting in legal, technical, tax and economic terms should therefore be made quickly. This includes in particular the legal definition of mobile storage and the abolition of double charges on the temporarily stored electricity. The introduction of a subsidy program for bidirectional charging would help to quickly establish the technology on the market. This could pave the way for the important future topic of bidirectional charging even more quickly.

Müller: “With the development of a high-performance charging network for heavy commercial vehicles, Germany can become a pioneer for the climate-neutral freight transport of the future. With the initial network for electric trucks, the decision is therefore rightly based on more speed. However, in view of the start of series production, the expected steep ramp-up and the tightening of the CO2 fleet limits for heavy commercial vehicles, further acceleration would be necessary. Further steps should therefore follow the measures in the charging infrastructure master plan. Delays compared to the timetable provided for in the master plan must be ruled out."

In addition to a needs-based and nationwide supply of charging infrastructure, the user experience for consumers should be given even more priority. The planned “Roadmap Digitization of the Overall Charging Infrastructure System” can help to create a convenient, attractive and digital overall charging infrastructure system for all users. Convenience functions such as the standardized Plug & Charge should be rolled out across the board. The VDA expressly welcomes the prospect of Europe-wide roaming proposed by the federal government: In the interests of consumer-friendliness, charging processes must be possible without complications even on vacation and across national borders.