ROUNDUP: Rural e-freight networks are slowly increasing – Bavaria is still ahead | 07/09/21

Berlin (dpa-AFX) – The electric vehicle charging network in Germany is gradually becoming denser. In rural areas especially, it’s often hard to find a public plume in the vicinity — but overall, supply had improved significantly by the end of May, according to the Federal Energy and Water Management Association (BDEW). The latest available data from the Charging Station Register shows better coverage of some of the smaller municipalities outside of the larger centres.

In the overall comparison of regional states, Bavaria performed better again in the last survey. On average, there are about 64.1 free accessible charging points per 100,000 residents in the free state. The absolute number here is 8,412, an increase of more than 30 percent compared to the spring of 2020. Neighboring Baden-Württemberg is lagging behind in terms of density of public charging points by about 64 points, and an increase of more than 40 percent was recorded to reach 7,099.

It is followed by Lower Saxony, where 51 statistical points are counted for every 100,000 people – with 4,079 options for charging the e-car on the go. The latter is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with an average of 22.3 charge points.

Density values ​​are of course higher in large cities. As a federal state, Hamburg has a slightly higher value (65.7) than Bavaria, the first in the region. Berlin and Bremen reported values ​​of 49 and 41.5, respectively. According to the data, relatively good offers are increasingly found in smaller municipalities, according to the association. To this end, he introduced new categories that would allow for better comparisons when there are small numbers of population – even though there are only absolute values.

In the “Small Towns and Rural Communities” group with a population of less than 20,000 people, Schweberdingen in Baden-Württemberg performed best in May with 70 charging points. It was followed – also in the southwest – by Ilsfeld (52) and Giengen an der Brenz (40). Bavarian Bad Säckingen and Holzkirchen (39 each) finished fourth, while Unterföhring near Munich and Timmendorfer Strand at Schleswig-Holstein scored 38 charging points. She added that these municipalities “proven the future” of the infrastructure for charging electric cars.

Among the medium-sized cities (20,000 to 100,000 inhabitants), the Zwickau association in Saxony showed the highest figure with 112 charging points. Behind him came Hessien Bonatal (105) and Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg (93). Wolfsburg (493), Regensburg (282) and Karlsruhe (260) were the three largest cities with populations between 100,000 and 500,000.

BDEW has also published relative density values ​​for this volume: the city of Volkswagen (Volkswagen (VW) vz) Wolfsburg with 396 charging points per 100,000 people and Regensburg, where BMW operates a large plant, remains in the lead with an average of 184.

Among the cities classified as metropolitan areas with a population of more than half a million inhabitants, Munich ranked first in terms of shop network density (89), followed by Stuttgart (81) and Essen (73). In absolute numbers, the picture turns in favor of Berlin, where there are now 1,799 public charging points – 700 more than a year ago. Munich (1327) and Hamburg (1214) rank second and third. There was also growth here.

BDEW Director Kirsten Andrea emphasized that in parallel with the “gentle” expansion of the network, charging stations should become more economical for operators and more attractive to users. Therefore stations should be equipped with digital payment systems rather than “electronic fuel card” readers, which differ from each other in many ways. / jap/DP/zb