Charging infrastructure in buildings: SPD accelerates, Union slows down

With clear words, the SPD parliamentary group and SPD ministers have complained about the Union's blockade in passing the so-called "Building Electromobility Infrastructure Act" (GEIG) and called for a faster expansion of the charging infrastructure. According to information from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, six SPD members of parliament, including the deputy parliamentary group leader and transport policy spokesman Sören Bartol, had addressed a fire letter to their CDU/CSU colleagues.

"If we want to remain competitive, we must and want to move forward boldly and consistently as the largest automobile nation in the world on this issue," the MPs urge their colleagues.

It has been "collectively decided in the coalition to massively push the transformation of this sector," it continues. For this, it is now necessary to "catch up" with the infrastructure. The GEIG is an important law, with private charging infrastructure being "the crucial bottleneck for the transformation in the automotive industry".

Otherwise, the policy would backfire, Bartol continued. Bartol also directly criticized to the SZ that Chancellor Angela Merkel promises billions for e-mobility to corporations, but her ministers and parliamentary group are effectively preventing the transformation because there is no infrastructure.

Ministry of the Environment: 85 Percent Charged at Parking Spaces

Support also comes from the SPD-led Ministry of the Environment. Minister Svenja Schulze set the goal that "electromobility will be considered in the planning of new buildings and major renovations in the future". She notes that 85 percent of all charging processes take place at parking spaces, both private and at workplaces or other parking areas.

The GEIG, formulated quite compactly with 16 paragraphs, is primarily intended to set the prerequisites for future additional e-charging infrastructure by stipulating that empty conduits for charging infrastructure be laid in new buildings with more than ten parking spaces or parking lot renovations. These would enable later retrofitting with charging points. This would allow for intelligent charging infrastructure in neighborhoods. It would be a fitting complement to the recently passed Home Ownership Act, which aims to make it easier for owners to set up e-charging points.

The federal government does not foresee an overload of the power grid

Besides the Union, there are apparently reservations from the states, as they fear an overload of the power grid, which the federal government however refutes. The energy providers and retailers are also calling for the option of more flexible solutions in front of stores, such as a few fast charging stations instead of many standard connections. Smaller facilities should also be required to install empty conduits in residential buildings. Naturally, the real estate industry fears high costs in the billions.

The SPD parliamentarians also criticize the lack of transparency from the Ministry of Transport. They want to be informed at least quarterly about the expansion of the charging infrastructure. Only then can "obstacles be evaluated and appropriate legislative action taken," the MPs warn Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU).

What does that mean?

One can't shake the feeling: They don't really want it, with e-mobility. Verbal willingness to act while being paralyzed in action is what this is called. In Sunday speeches, politicians from the Union parties, especially the Minister of Transport, sing about how important all this is and the transformation and in general. And then, from Monday onwards, it’s back to diligently delaying and recapturing, to stay in the picture. The latest example that drove the SPD coalition partner crazy was the unnecessary delay of the GEIG, an undoubtedly important element for the breakthrough of e-drives. One suspects that a project is being sabotaged or at least not pursued with the necessary consistency, so that one can later stand up and say: We've always known it, e-mobility doesn't work. A destructive political tactic. And: There is no later if you do not want to bury the car location Germany. The days of the combustion engine are numbered, perhaps only not for the eternally outdated from the so-called "Alternative for Germany".

A similar pattern has been happening for years on the issue of integration, which has been rather half-heartedly pursued, if not sabotaged, by the conservative parties, especially the CSU, despite all appeals from business associations and ignoring demographic reality, while chasing the outdated theses of the AfD. This is also a party that recently suggested in the Transport Committee to stop the Euro 7 standard. Then they summarize the self-sabotaged result: We've told you so! But such a tactic is fatal when it comes to migration and would be in terms of transport transition. Because there is no turning back. The only question is whether Germany will be at the forefront of "leading the way" and really, as the VDA also postulates, become the world’s leading market for e-mobility (which does not mean PHEVs now). Or whether one will drift somewhere and have the LED taillights shown by China, Korea, Japan, or the USA. Again: We should be in love with success, not with failure.