Charging infrastructure in Europe

Norway is without doubt the ultimate European destination for electric cars. The land of the Vikings is a great place for a road trip in any case. With its magnificent countryside and breath-taking fjords, you’re sure to enjoy an unforgettable holiday. And the best news? With your EV you are more than welcome. Norway’s EV drivers benefit from lots of advantages, as well. They don’t have to pay tolls and they can park free of charge. The whole country is in the process of switching to electric. For instance, you can use electric public transport, sail among the fjords on an electric cruise ship and much, much more. Not for nothing does Norway head our LeasePlan EV Readiness Index. With over 25,000 electric charging stations, Sweden, too, has enough facilities to ensure you a carefree EV road trip.

The European Union currently boasts over 330,000 charging stations. This does not include Norway, because it is not a member of the European Union. Best in class in the EU is the Netherlands with around 90,000 charging stations (29.4% of the EU total). There are almost 50 charging stations per 100 kilometres in this country. That is ten times more than in Belgium (5.5 charging stations per 100 km). The Netherlands has almost 1,600 times more charging stations than the country with the least extensive infrastructure: Cyprus (57 charging stations). Germany, too, is ready for electric vehicles and currently has around 60,000 charging points, accounting for 19.4% of all the facilities in the EU.

France is one of our favourite holiday destinations. And you can head off there in your electric car, too, without a problem. The country currently has over 37,000 charging stations (four stations per 100 km), and the number is rising fast. In Portugal, too, you can relax as you drive around in your EV. Here you will find 15 charging stations per 100 km so you can easily charge your car. Italy has just over 23,500 charging stations, which equates to five stations per 100 km.

Until recently, this country lagged behind in terms of charging infrastructure. But Belgium is well on the way to catching up. The country currently has around 32,000 public charging stations. That’s not many, but it’s a lot more than the 7,300 charging stations a year ago. And a great many additional stations are planned for the future. Wallonia, for instance, aims to have 12,000 charging stations by 2025. Flanders has set a target of 35,000 charging stations in the same year. The Flemish government is investing heavily in a public charging network and also reimburses 20% of the costs for companies that install a semi-public charging station through subsidies. This approach appears to be a huge success.

Driving to Spain in an EV? Then plan your route carefully, because the number of charging stations there is not yet up to the mark. At the end of 2020, Spain had around 7,600 EV charging stations. But the country is coming along, because the Spanish government has great ambitions to make the traffic more sustainable. The plan is to have over three million electric cars on the roads by 2030. So they are working fast to install extra charging stations.

In eastern Europe, too, there remains a lot to be done. In Croatia, there are currently just two charging stations per 100 km. And even fewer in Greece. Romania, a country six times as big as the Netherlands, has only 493 charging stations. So if you are heading east with your car, for the time being you cannot be sure of a carefree EV trip.