Mercedes-Benz, VW Push Government to Boost Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

As more countries implement emission-reduction initiatives, more governments are providing incentives to boost the growth of electric vehicles.

In Germany, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are pushing the German government to take additional steps to boost the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations around the country. The German publication Bild am Sonntag broke the story first.

The Need for More Charging Stations

As per Statista data, with over 6,700 gigawatts of energy required, Europe had the second-highest demand for electric vehicle electricity in 2021, after China (approximately 6.75 terawatts). This demand only accounts for a minor portion of the roughly 4,000 terawatts of electricity generated in Europe.

Based on a survey conducted in October 2021, more than half of German respondents chose to charge their electric vehicles on the regular power system. Since this energy balance is also country-dependent, governments have a greater incentive to regulate vehicle sales and electricity generation.

As reported by Reuters, Ola Kallenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz, stressed the importance of charging infrastructure, noting that "to speed up the change (to electric vehicles), we need to be sure that the charging station infrastructure is being built up." He continued, "that's also a question for politics.."

VW CEO Oliver Blume agreed with the sentiment and argued that building charging stations is "a common task of the economy, the federal government, and communes."

Germany's Zero-Emission Goals

As part of its push toward net-zero emissions, the German government authorized a proposal in October 2022 to spend 6.3 billion euros ($6.74 billion) to increase the number of charging stations in the country. A report from ABCNews noted that the strategy also includes hastening governmental permits for charging stations.

According to data provided by the German Federal Office for Motor Vehicles, the percentage of newly registered electric vehicles increased by 24.8% over the previous year, reaching 14.6% of the total-a ticking clock for the country's green initiatives.

So far, trade groups have complained that the government has not kept up with the rapid expansion of electric vehicles (EVs), and they consider the implementation of the recommendations to be of the utmost importance.

Mercedes-Benz's Kallenius highlighted that "the future of the car is electric." He stated that the company's goal is to entirely convert to electric cars in their market category by the end of the decade, provided that the market conditions can support such a shift.

He continued, "it's not a foregone conclusion; rather, it will require a gigantic industrial conversion."

The need for additional charging infrastructure is not unique to Germany, as other countries are also transitioning to electric vehicles. By 2030, the Biden administration aims to deploy 500,000 charging stations across the United States.

The British government has pledged to prohibit the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2030. It has initiated a plan to deploy thousands of new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations throughout the country.

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