VDA President: Federal Government should do more to drive forward expansion of the charging infrastructure
The draft bill does not go far enough. Minimum requirements must be more ambitious if Germany is to become a pioneer and the leading market for electric mobility
“The plans of the German Federal Government for the integration of charging and cable infrastructure for electric vehicles in buildings are basically steps in the right basic direction, but do not go far enough,” said Hildegard Müller, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), commenting on the current draft bill.
Swift and extensive expansion of the charging infrastructure is essential for the ramp-up of electric mobility – which will be crucial for climate protection reasons. “The regulations proposed by the German Government for the establishment of semi-public and private charging infrastructure in buildings do not go beyond the European Commission’s Directive and are thus still not ambitious enough,” the VDA president said.
“That would not meet our expectations of suitable flanking for the measures for the development, production and sale of electric cars by the German automotive industry,” Hildegard Müller explained. Under the current plans for expanding the network of charging pillars, Germany can become neither a pioneer of electric mobility nor its leading market.
The draft bill envisages that in the case of a new business property – or one that has been extensively renovated – with more than ten parking places, only one fifth of these parking spots would have to be prepared for potential vehicle-charging. Only one parking place has to be fitted with a charging device.
To boost the demand for climate-friendly electric vehicles, the VDA therefore proposes introducing more ambitious minimum requirements for the number of charging pillars to be installed. Furthermore, these requirements should also apply to construction and renovation projects, where less than ten parking places are created under the law – and in the case of residential buildings, it would be best for the requirement to apply right from the first parking space. The majority of new buildings are inhabited by one or two families.