EU charging network expansion: Statement of VDA President Hildegard Müller on the AFIR trilogue agreement

"The success of e-mobility is based on consumers’ trust in being able to charge their cars anytime, anywhere. A comprehensive Europe-wide charging infrastructure is therefore crucial for the successful ramp-up of e-mobility - and thus for achieving the climate goals. The trilogue agreement at AFIR (Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation) is therefore an important step towards moving forward with the corresponding establishment and expansion of the charging network. However, the compromise that has now been found falls far short of what would be necessary to achieve the ambitious goals for e-mobility. Motorists should be able to find a charging station every 40km along the most important traffic axes in the EU - with 60km now specified, the agreement is far from a consumer-friendly solution, even if the compromise has improved compared to the Commission's original proposal. Increasing the charging power to 1.3kW is a step in the right direction, but 3kW would have been necessary.

Hydrogen filling stations will play an important role in future with regard to heavy goods traffic – also here the agreement is not ambitious enough to trigger a corresponding ramp-up. Distances of 200km between H2 filling stations are too far. There is a lack of sufficiently ambitious goals here, as is the corresponding timetable for the development goals, which was not brought forward to 2027 as we had requested.

Basically, the following applies:  Politics must enable transformation - that means setting the framework conditions and building the necessary infrastructure necessary for a successful transformation to climate-neutral mobility."