Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in France and other countries boomed in 2020. However, according to the French newspaper the Connexion, the installation of electric charging points is lagging behind. This is a potential problem because, despite the growth in the sales of EVs, there are many drivers that argue that the availability of electric charging points should increase before they switch to an electric car.
EVBOX, a supplier of charging points, recently conducted a relevant research among 3 600 European citizens living in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK. Their findings stated that 38% of the European citizens don’t believe that it’s always possible to find a charging point the moment they need it. Furthermore, 66% of future EV drivers would make the switch earlier if more options to re-charge an electric car were available. An interesting finding was the discrepancy in results between the owners of EV and the rest. EV owners had almost double the amount of confidence that they could charge their car whenever they desired.
These results illustrate the importance of investing in charging points. This idea is shared by many European countries, as several countries have recently presented plans to expand their charging network. For instance, France recently announced that they want to increase the number of charging points by 100 000 before the end of 2021. This is five times as much as in 2020. In December the European Investment Bank announced that they would invest €50 million to support the distribution of charging stations in Spain. While earlier in 2020 also other European countries such as Germany and Austria presented similar plans.
For more information relevant to batteries for EVs, have a look at the news item on the ATI website solid-state-lithium-ion-batteries for electric vehicles. For more information on advanced technologies in Europe, explore the ATI project website.