One of the main pillars of the European green transition is transportation decarbonization. For years, both politicians and businesses in the EU have been taking steps in this direction, and the pace has accelerated significantly in the last few years.
The eternal question in the electrification and hydrogenation of transportation, both before and now, is “which comes first: the egg or the hen?” But in this case, the question is “which should be prioritized first: the increase in electric vehicles or the expansion of the range of electric and hydrogen charging stations?” The issue is particularly important when it comes to heavy transport. There are significant differences between politicians’ and business’ visions in this area, as well.
It is obvious that the expansion of electric and hydrogen fleets must be accompanied by an increase in the number of electric and hydrogen charging stations. To this end, the EC has already set specific goals for Member States to achieve within specific timeframes. Vehicle manufacturers, on the other hand, do not entirely agree with them. The business believes that Brussels’ vision is not very far-sighted, and that the set goals will not be sufficient to achieve the decarbonized transportation share by that date. This is evident from publications on the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers’ website (ACEA). They make it clear that, in order to achieve the EC’s goals, the EU’s leadership will have to reconsider its ideas about how many charging stations should be built.
Automobiles and vans
European automakers agree with the EU that 34.4 million electric vehicles and another 13.7 million plug-in hybrids are already required in Member States to meet 2030 decarbonization targets. We’re only talking about cars and vans here. ACEA agrees with Brussels that each of these vehicles will travel an average of 13,414 kilometers per year. However, disagreements arise as a result of this. The most important are the number of public charging stations required for the adequate, efficient, and trouble-free operation of this large number of electric vehicles.
According to estimates in Brussels, the EU should have 3.9 million people. However, for automobile manufacturers, they should be much higher – 7 million units. The EC also believes that by the end of this decade, 40% of all electric vehicle charging stations should be open to the public.
According to ACEA, public ones should account for 60% of all parking spaces, with the remainder being found in private garages, business parking lots, and office garages. To some extent, the differences in opinions stem from differing perspectives on an electric vehicle’s average power consumption. According to EC authorities, it will be around 12 kilowatt hours per 100 km by 2030, while car manufacturers believe that calculating at a cost of 20 kilowatt hours per 100 km is much more realistic.
The power and capacity of charging points are also hotly debated. Fast charging stations for cars and vans should have a capacity of 104 kilowatts, while slow charging stations should have a capacity of 7.7 kilowatts, according to Brussels. ACEA members, on the other hand, believe they should be 185 and 11 kilowatt hours, respectively. At the same time, the European Commission estimates that each charging point should have a capacity of 1 kilowatt-hour for all-electric cars and 0.66 kilowatt-hours for plug-in hybrids. The manufacturers of these vehicles believe that increasing the parameters for the former to 3 kilowatt hours and the latter to 2 kilowatt hours is more appropriate.
Infrastructure for hydrogen
Although hydrogen is more commonly associated with heavy trucks and buses, no one is ruling out the possibility of using it in passenger cars and vans. Although the supply is significantly less than that of battery-powered cars, they are still on the roads today. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion on this subject. Finally, the European Commission established in the Infrastructure Alternative Fuels Regulation that by 2030, every 150 kilometers of the main EU land transport network TEN-T will have a hydrogen refueling station. Automobile manufacturers have differing viewpoints on this issue as well. They believe that the distance between two such points should not exceed 100 kilometers. Furthermore, they believe that this requirement should be met by 2027, rather than 2030.
Given the foregoing, ACEA believes that the EU’s ambitious CO2 reduction targets must be accompanied by equally ambitious plans requiring all 27 Member States to build and deploy a sufficient network of charging stations. Hydrogen and electricity are two types of energy. The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation, according to automakers, should be used to accomplish this (AFIR). Its review should include targets that are serious enough to allow for the implementation of real plans to reduce future emissions from the transportation sector.
In addition to the above remarks on the plans, European carmakers recommend that AFIR be adjusted for the EU roads on which the new charging infrastructure will be deployed. They believe that such should not be built only on TEN-main T’s roads, but that the objectives should apply to all of the network’s roads. Incentives for the construction of more fast charging stations are also required, allowing the charging time of electric vehicle batteries to be comparable to the time it takes to fill a tank with gasoline or diesel. At the same time, each station’s charging points must be sufficient in number to handle the traffic from electric vehicles without creating queues of waiting cars.
Buses and trucks
In fact, when it comes to heavy goods and bus transportation, the differences in vision between European politicians and car manufacturers to meet decarbonisation targets in transportation are becoming even more serious. Low- and zero-emission trucks have already begun to appear on European roads, and their numbers are steadily increasing, despite the fact that their scale remains significantly lower than that of cars and vans. However, public charging infrastructure for electric and hydrogen trucks and buses is still woefully inadequate. This is something that the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation needs to be updated immediately (AFIR).
However, it’s important to remember that the technical specifications and requirements for charging electric trucks and buses, as well as those with fuel cells, are vastly different from those for cars and vans. This is especially true when it comes to charging station locations, the required amount of free space around them, and the minimum levels of output power. In this regard, the ACEA’s main recommendations to Brussels for the revision of AFIR in relation to heavy goods vehicles are to raise the level of requirements for total output power of charging stations for electricity and hydrogen both on the main roads of the TEN-T network and in urban areas, as well as to increase their number on roadside car parks.
According to car manufacturers, hydrogen charging stations on major European roads should not be more than 300 kilometers apart in order to meet intermediate targets for the distribution of low-emission and non-emission trucks and buses by 2027. Simultaneously, the development of a sufficient network of filling stations for liquefied and compressed natural gas, which are considered transitional fuels from diesel to electricity and pure hydrogen, should be considered.
ACEA also has serious reservations about Brussels’ technical parameters and specifications for truck and bus charging stations. For example, the European Commission estimates that by December 31, 2025, each charging station for electricity on the TEN-T network’s main roads will have an output power of at least 1,400 kilowatts, with a 5-year increase to 3,500 kilowatts. Car manufacturers, on the other hand, believe that each of these stations’ output power should be at least 5,000 kilowatts by July 1, 2025, and 6,500 kilowatts by the same date in 2030. On TEN-T peripheral roads, both sides have slightly closer views. The EC also believes that charging station output power should be at least 1,400 kilowatts, but that this goal should be met by the end of 2030. The ACEA agrees with this power, but according to them, the charging stations in question should be available earlier – in the middle of 2027. Their capacity should be increased to 3,000 kilowatts by 2030. According to the European Commission, it will continue to grow over time, reaching 3,500 kilowatts by the end of 2035. Car manufacturers, on the other hand, claim that these stations’ output power will need to be 5,000 kilowatts.
In terms of the planned parameters of the charging stations in the settlements, there are also differences in visions. By the end of 2030, the European Commission wants each charging station for trucks and buses in urban areas to have a total capacity of at least 1,200 kilowatts, with an intermediate target of 600 kilowatts in place for 2025. Car manufacturers, on the other hand, believe that by 2030, charging stations in the city must have a capacity of at least 1,600 kilowatts. Each charging point from such a station must have a capacity of 150 kilowatts, according to both Brussels and ACEA. Car manufacturers, on the other hand, believe that two more powerful 350-kilowatt points should be installed next to them.
