Advertisement

In Germany, All Gas Stations Will Be Required to Provide EV Charging

Photo credit: boonchai wedmakawand - Getty Images
Photo credit: boonchai wedmakawand - Getty Images

From Car and Driver

  • Germany's newly passed fiscal recovery package includes a requirement for electric-vehicle charging stations at gas stations and larger incentives for EVs.

  • The country wants to expand the EV charging infrastructure rapidly to kick-start electric-vehicle ownership, which currently stands at less than 2 percent in Germany.

  • Germany will also invest in battery-cell production.

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic requires more than just allowing people to mingle in groups once again. There also has to be an economic plan to get a country’s economy back in order after months of industries sitting idle. Germany has just shared its plan, and it includes a larger incentive for EV purchases and a new rule that all gas stations also need to have charging points.

Germany’s fiscal package includes the usual ways to boost an economy while caring for individuals including lowered VAT (sales taxes), allocating funds for industries hit hard by the pandemic, and a $337 allocation for each child. But it also makes buying an EV more desirable because it makes the charging network much more accessible. At some point in the future, if you’re driving an EV in Germany, you'll be able to charge your vehicle at the same place you would have fueled up on petrol.

The country also wants to intensify the expansion of the EV-charging infrastructure to places people go, including day-care centers, hospitals, and sports fields. It'll also investigate if petroleum companies will be able to quickly put up stations as a decarbonization measure.

The plan also includes a larger subsidy for the purchase of an EV on the vehicle side. Instead of offering subsidies for all vehicle purchases, the plan has doubled the $3375 subsidy to $6750 for electric vehicles priced under $45,000. Reuters reports that the auto industry wanted subsidies for all types of vehicles.

Overall, Germany has set aside $2.8 billion for a charging infrastructure and battery cell production. The country is pushing hard, not only to get more of its citizens into EVs, but to be part of the manufacturing infrastructure that would benefit from that move.

You Might Also Like