The European Union is facing a significant shortfall in electric vehicle (EV) charging points, needing nearly eight times more installations per year than in 2023 to meet projected demand, according to the European autos group ACEA.
In 2023, just over 150,000 public charging points were installed across the bloc, totaling more than 630,000. However, this falls far short of the approximately 410,000 needed annually for the European Commission to achieve its target of 3.5 million charging points by 2030, ACEA stated.
Demand for EV charging has outpaced expectations, with EU electric car sales growing three times faster than charging point installations between 2017 and 2023. ACEA’s director general, Sigrid de Vries, expressed concern over this disparity, stating, “We are very concerned that infrastructure rollout has not kept pace with battery-electric car sales in recent years.”
ACEA estimates that 8.8 million charging points will be required by 2030, equating to 1.2 million installations annually—eight times more than the number installed in 2023. De Vries emphasized the urgency of increasing investments in public charging infrastructure to close the infrastructure gap and meet climate targets.
