An ultra-fast charging column with up to 350 kW charging power standing on the parking lot of the garden centre "Garten von Ehren" in Harburg during the site opening. (picture alliance/Georg Wendt/dpa/archive)
The German government and the automotive industry want to push ahead with the expansion of the charging network for electric vehicles in Germany. They have agreed to develop a "master plan" for this, said the president of the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), Bernhard Mattes, after a meeting of industry representatives and the leading members of the coalition parties in the Chancellery late Monday evening. Industry, trade unions and politicians had "laid a good foundation stone" for sensible measures to achieve the climate protection goals, he said.
The plan is intended to clarify what exactly is needed to expand the network of charging stations in order to ensure that there are between 7 and 10.5 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030. Charging stations are one of the essential points for customer acceptance, Mattes said. Financial commitments and subsidies had not been discussed. The results achieved for a master plan should be discussed at a next meeting. Then decisions should follow.
The three-hour meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel was attended by VW boss Herbert Diess and BMW boss Harald Krüger, among others. Also present were Economics Minister Peter Altmaier, a member of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), Environment Minister Svenja Schulze and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, both of the Social Democrats. Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer, a member of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), stated before the meeting got underway that in order to maintain prosperity and meet climate targets, Germany must "become the world champion in several disciplines." These included to e-mobility, hydrogen engines and alternative fuels.
After the talks, VDA President Mattes said that, with a view to the climate protection targets for 2030, there had to be a concentration on the "biggest lever," namely electromobility. In the long term, however, "further alternatives would have to be added that would make sense for other applications." He rejected concerns that this represented a one-sided fixation on e-mobility.
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