Charging Network Ranking: an Overview

The goals are ambitious - but there are still huge problems with implementation. This is made clear by the VDA's major charging network ranking, which analyzes and puts to test the expansion of publicly accessible charging infrastructure in Germany's cities and districts.

The sobering result: The expansion of the charging infrastructure continues to lag behind people's increasing interest in electromobility, even if the gap between demand and supply has narrowed somewhat in recent months. On average, there are 21 electric cars per publicly accessible charging point in Germany (as of August 1, 2023). On May 1, 2021 this have been only 17 electric cars.

In order to achieve the goal of one million charging points in 2030, which the federal government has also expressly set out in its coalition agreement and recently in the National Industrial Strategy, the pace of expansion over the past twelve months (as of August 1, 2023) would have to more than triple.

VDA President Hildegard Müller: "The expansion of the charging infrastructure is one of the most urgent infrastructure tasks for Germany, but has been neglected far too much for a long time. One thing is clear: the success of e-mobility depends largely on the expansion of the charging infrastructure. People need certainty that they can easily charge anywhere and at any time so that they can switch to e-mobility. Availability is key for customer satisfaction when it comes to charging. The fact that there is not a single charging point in every second municipality in Germany is sobering and highlights the need for political action."

An Allensbach study commissioned by the VDA recently showed: 68% of those surveyed are critical of the availability of charging options in their own area, 61% think this applies to the places where they shop, and 49% see deficits on motorways and country roads.

Especially against the background of these results, it is good that the pace of expansion of the charging infrastructure has recently increased and, in particular, the expansion of the fast-charging infrastructure has been accelerated, said Müller. "It absolutely has to continue like this, because Germany has a lot of catching up to do."

The VDA President is also in favor of consistent monitoring of the charging infrastructure expansion by the federal government. The interministerial working group on the topic of charging infrastructure must insist on the implementation of the measures and compliance with the deadlines set out in the Federal Government's Master Plan for Charging Infrastructure II. Müller: "Delays in the implementation of the measures could jeopardize the success of e-mobility in Germany. This shouldn’t happen."

Faster planning and approval processes would remain central. "We need planning to be accelerated when expanding the charging infrastructure. As the automotive industry, we have made concrete proposals for this," the VDA President said and added:

"Companies in the automotive industry are already involved in many projects and are continually advancing the development and expansion of the charging infrastructure. We will continue this commitment and thus continue to enable the successful ramp-up of e-mobility."

The VDA charging network ranking is divided into three categories:

1. The T value indicates how many electric cars one publicly accessible charging point has to serve statistically.
2. The A value, on the other hand, represents the number of publicly accessible charging points in relation to all cars registered in a district or city. This illustrates how attractive a city is for the use of e-mobility.
3. The S-value indicates how many electric cars have to share a fast charging point. According to the definition of the Federal Network Agency, a fast charging point has a charging capacity of more than 22 kilowatts.

This is particularly important for longer journeys - or if the break for charging should be as short as possible, for example when shopping. Fast charging points are particularly important for the acceptance of e-mobility.

Ingolstadt is at the top of the ranking for both A value and T value, making it the most attractive place for traveling by electric vehicle in Germany.

Regensburg is now in second place for the A value, followed by Emden in third place.

When it comes to the T value, Emden is even in second place, ahead of Salzgitter.

Thuringia defends its top position in the S-value which is evaluated at federal state level.

The VDA obtains the data on the number of cars and electric cars from the Federal Motor Transport Authority and the data on the charging points from the Federal Network Agency. The latter records the publicly accessible charging points.