With the number of electric vehicles on Europe's roads likely to reach 130 million by 2035, the region will need a good policy response plan to cope with the pressure on charging caused by the surge in the number of electric vehicles, according to a report released jointly by Ernst & Young and the European Electricity Industry Alliance (Eurelectric) on 8 February.

In 2021, one in every 11 new cars sold in Europe will be purely electric, an increase of 63% compared to 2020. There are currently 374,000 public charging station in Europe, two-thirds of which are concentrated in five countries - the Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany and the UK - while some European countries have yet to reach one charging post per 100km. The lack of infrastructure will limit the use of electric vehicles and thus lead to barriers to rollout.

According to the report, there are currently 3.3 million electric vehicles on the road in Europe and by 2035, 9 million public charging posts and 56 million home on board charger, totaling 65 million electric vehicle charger, will be needed to meet the soaring demand for purely electric vehicles.

Serge Colle, global head of energy and resources at Ernst & Young, said that to meet demand, 500,000 public charging station would need to be installed in Europe each year by 2030, and one million each year thereafter. But Kristian Ruby, secretary general of the European Electricity Industry Federation, said there were currently huge delays in building public charging infrastructure due to planning and permitting problems.

In the development of electric vehicles in China, we recognize that charging infrastructure is an important guarantee for electric vehicle mobility and an important support to promote industrial development, energy saving, and emission reduction. At present, outdated urban infrastructure, cumbersome policies, and uneven population distribution in the European region have led to problems such as the unavailability or low utilization of new energy charging posts in cities.

Therefore, there is a need for a policy-oriented, scientific, and rational layout of charging piles, which can bring a convenient charging experience to users while reducing costs for enterprises and users.