Building an adequate charging infrastructure in the European Union by 2030 could require upwards of €240 billion being spent among the 27 member countries, writes Brian Byrne.
At least 3.4 million operational public charging points will need to be available across the EU in seven years' time if number of electric vehicles proposed by 2030 is to be achieved. As of last year, the number of such charging stations stood at around 375,000.
In a report Europe’s EV opportunity—and the charging infrastructure needed to meet it consultants McKinsey & Company note that the EU is the 'global frontrunner' in the adoption of EVs and its members are responsible for more than a quarter of the world's EV production. And while the adoption of EVs continues to increase — roughly a fifth of new car sales in 2021 were electric — too few charging stations are being installed.
Currently around 1,600 charging stations are being installed per week across the region. The report says this rate needs to quadruple by 2025, to average some 6,000 points a week between 2021 and 2030.
The report says that parts of Europe's electricity grid will need to be reinforced, but upgrades to the region's grid structure to come with EVs represents only 11pc of total annual EU-27 grid investments.
If the required investment is made in a timely way, the EU has a unique opportunity to create a world-leading EV ecosystem, McKinsey says, which could generate new jobs, lessen air pollution, accelerate progress toward climate goals, and help Europe become a 'global EV lighthouse'.
Are we there yet? No, not yet. A long way yet.
