Press release

    Master Plan Charging Infrastructure 2.0

    VDA publishes comprehensive recommendations

    VDA publishes comprehensive recommendations

    Berlin, March 10, 2022

    Focus on setting up a charging network for commercial vehicles – €5bn booster funding until 2025

    The insufficient speed in the expansion of the charging infrastructure may become the main obstacle for the ramp-up of electromobility.

    The Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport is currently developing a charging infrastructure master plan. This action plan will encompass measures to expand the public and private charging infrastructure in Germany. The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) is contributing to the discussion with its position paper Charging Infrastructure 2.0 Master Plan Recommendations from the Automotive Industry, which is being published today. The paper contains comprehensive and specific proposals for expanding the charging infrastructure in Germany and Europe.

    On the one hand, it is crucial that the charging infrastructure expands proportionally to the ramp-up of electromobility and, on the other hand, that the expansion is two years ahead of demand. This is the only way to eliminate the existing gap between infrastructure coverage and demand and, at the same time, create the urgently needed consumer confidence in a reliable and sufficient charging infrastructure. Of major importance is a consistent monitoring of the expansion target of 1 million charging points by 2030 and, if necessary, a corresponding (re)alignment of funding.

    In its position paper, the VDA recommends the following measures, among others:

    • Maintaining the National Control Center for Charging Infrastructure (Nationale Leitstelle Ladeinfrastruktur, NLL) and its mandate with overall coordination (requirements analysis, planning, monitoring, specifications)
    • Booster funding: €5bn for the expansion of the public and private charging infrastructure by 2025, thus maintaining orientation of previous government
    • Coverage of all areas of use from home/work to on the go through attractive funding programs (7 use cases VDA/NLL/National Platform for the Future of Mobility)
    • Extended funding for charging infrastructure in the commercial sector
    • Rollover of the wall box program to promote private charging points at home
    • Establishment of a semi-annual "charging summit" with relevant stakeholders fot the pupose of inventory and controlling the measures
    • Determination and legal support of municipial responsibility for ensuring charging infrastructure based on needs. Establishment of coordination and adcive centers and their mandates. Federal support, e.g. by means of start-up financing and trnasfer of knowledge
    • Prioritising of the car/truck charging infrastructure according to the acceleration of planning for the expansion of renewable energies
    • Reliable, quick and convenient access to a charging point and good area coverage
    • Europe: Support for ambitious AFIR specifications (Alternative Fuels Infrastructe Regulation), e.g. with regard to area coverage, equipment of the TEN-T networks and determination of the charging power requirements

    Focus on establishing a charging network for commercial vehicles in long-distance-transport

    The federal government has also set an ambitious target for medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks: by 2030, electric mileage should account for more than 30% of total mileage. So far, the development of a corresponding truck charging network has been insufficiently accounted for in the federal government's charging infrastructure efforts, with 30,000 electric trucks expected in Europe by 2025 and 200,000 electric trucks by 2030.

    Thus the VDA recommends:

    • "Nationwide network for trucks": Development of charging infrastructure on the long-distance routes  with high-performance charging points for the charging needs of heavy commercial vehicles and coaches in accordance with the standard for megawatt charging (MCS; at least 700 kW continuous per charging point), call for tenders in line with car charging network
    • Thinking about tomorrow today: Consideration of the specific truck charging requirements in the further planning of the nationwide car charging network, incorporation of the charging requirements in the network requirement planning. 
    • Promotion of the charging infrastructure in the commercial sector with the use case base charging (depots and transhipment points) for e-trucks
    • Support for the operation of electrified commercial vehicles with suitable infrastructure programs (e.g. charging parks, power connections)
    • Incorporation of the need for electrified light commercial vehicles in the scope of consideration and initiation of corresponding funding programs

    Bidirectional charging (Vehicle to Grid) cannot replace an ambitious grid expansion, but it can still make sense to use bidirectional charging to relieve the grid. It is important to leverage this potential and to lay the necessary foundations. In its position paper, the VDA recommends among other things:

    • Introduction of dynamic grid fees to avoid peak loads and balance renewable energy feed-in peaks through local flexibility in order to use existing grid capacities more efficiently
    • Creation of a legal framework for bidirectional charging, e.g. by adaption and adequate consideration in the Energy Industry Act and creation of an independent definition of "mobile storage"
    • Increasing the efficiency of transmission grids: Mobile storage should be able to even out fluctuations in the balancing energy market by providing system services

    VDA President Hildegard Müller on the publication of the position paper: "A comprehensive and efficient charging infrastructure is and remains key to the success of e-mobility – this applies to passenger cars as well as commercial vehicles.

    Müller underlines the demand: "The federal government should invite to a charging summit soon and bring all stakeholders together: petrol station operators, the housing industry, parking space companies, retailers, charging point operators, the energy industry, network operators, the Federal Network Agency, the logistics industry, the municipalities and the automotive industry. Together we have to develop a tangible plan to speed up the expansion and make charging easy and convenient for people.

    Press Office

    Simon Schütz

    Head & Spokesperson with focus on politics and society