Europe needs to recalibrate its charging infrastructure to cope with soaring EV demand over the coming years, according to a new report.
Power sector accelerating e-mobility, published by EY and Eurelectric, projects 130 million EVs to be on European roads by 2035, compared with around three million now.
To cope with rising demand, they said Europe would need 65 million EV chargers – nine million public and 56 million residential – compared to 374,000 today.
The study pointed out that while strong progress had been made in line with the global climate agenda and EV uptake by automakers, the rollout of charging ports was patchy, with the Netherlands, France, Italy Germany and the UK accounting for 66% of European charging stock.
Andrew Horstead, global power and utilities lead analyst at EU, said: “In what seems like no time at all, the coincidence of vehicle availability, regulation, technology and user appetite is changing the conversation from ‘if’ to ‘when’ eMobility will become mainstream.
“However, if momentum is to be maintained, a huge leap in the availability of charging infrastructure is needed too.”
The study said that once EV penetration reaches 50% on an urban distribution network, uncontrolled charging could lead to voltage deviations and affect the quality of power supply.
The key bottlenecks likely to threaten charging rollout were access to real estate and permit troubles, delays in getting a grid connection, and a lack of interoperability between charging networks.
The group said winning over customers with reliable charging infrastructure, developing smart charging and enabling interoperability should be the chief priority of charging companies before 2035.