Overview
- Germany counts roughly 180,000 public charging points as of October 1, including about 44,250 fast chargers, with publicly available charging power up nearly 30% to more than 7.3 million kW.
- Access has barely improved, with about 16.7 electric cars per public charger, and provision varies widely by state, from around 11.7 cars per charger in Mecklenburg‑Western Pomerania and Thuringia to 24.6 in Saarland.
- An ADAC audit of 50 motorway sites found more than half rated poor, only a quarter with at least ten high‑power points, frequent defects, no canopies, limited direct card payment and weak price transparency.
- The Monopolkommission warns that weak competition and confusing tariffs leave drivers paying too much for public charging, often around €0.60–€0.90 per kWh, and backs a planned price transparency office for ad‑hoc charging.
- The VDA urges faster deployment as the installation pace has slowed, noting 32% of municipalities still have no public charger and about 65% lack a public fast charger, with legal disputes over motorway site awards hindering some locations.