The German federal government approved a plan today to spend €6.3 billion ($6.17 billion) over the next three years to rapidly increase the number of electric vehicle charging stations across the country.
There are currently around 70,000 charging stations in the country; the government wants to increase that number 14-fold to 1 million by 2030. The emphasis will be on towns and cities that are currently undersupplied.
In Germany, there are approximately 1.5 million electric vehicles on the road, with a goal of increasing to 15 million by 2030. The administration plans on speeding up state approvals for building charging points to meet the demand.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing said: “We know that electromobility is ramping up rapidly, so we have to be quick”.
The Minister added that “Our goal: to accelerate the expansion of charging infrastructure, simplify the charging process and thus make it easier for people to switch”.
The federal government hopes that this move will increase consumer interest in EV adoption. Meanwhile, Wissing stated that the country anticipates exponential growth in the EV market owing to the fact that Germany is the home country of leading car brands such as BMW, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz that are working to transition to electric vehicle production.