Siemens Study: Public Charging Stations Do Not Meet Demand - Except in China
The Siemens Financial Services (SFS) division has published a new study analyzing the current density of public charging stations in various countries and regions. The density was calculated both in relation to the total number of registered electric vehicles (number of public charging stations divided by the number of electric vehicles) and as the number of charging stations per kilometer of main or highway road. In almost all investigated regions, the ratio of publicly accessible charging options to the number of electric vehicles and to the road infrastructure is alarmingly low, the authors conclude. Only China seems to have made serious investments in the public charging network. Meanwhile, European countries such as the UK, France, Germany, and Spain do not even reach half the Chinese implementation rate.
The results confirm previous SFS studies predicting a gap of 104 billion euros for the global development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure for the period 2023-25. This “gap” thus also represents missing infrastructure that has not yet been realized with the help of intelligent technology financing by third parties – and instead has so far been paid from capital expenditures.
Private Investors Show Increasing Interest
To address the growing discrepancy between the expanding electric vehicle market and the current lack of public infrastructure, the study points to the increasing interest of private companies in new financing models that take into account the use and performance of charging stations. Such financing models range from leasing contracts to optimize liquidity, to more complex usage-based agreements that, as "X-as-a-Service" financing solutions, enable access to electric vehicle charging technology. Regardless of their structure, these models are designed to make investment costs more manageable. This is achieved through manageable regular payments, which are generally designed to at least match the expected revenue of the charging points. In many cases, this allows the investment to be budget-neutral.
"It is encouraging to see electric vehicles gaining widespread acceptance, and it is important that countries support this change with the right infrastructure," explains Klaus Meyer, Head of Commercial Finance at Siemens Financial Services in Germany and Chairman of the Board (CEO) of Siemens Finance & Leasing GmbH.
At the current pace of electric vehicle adoption, the demand for charging stations cannot yet be met. However, intelligently applied financing can help accelerate investments and contribute to more sustainability in road transport worldwide.
Methodology: Current Figures in Comparison
The data on public charging stations were combined with the latest figures on the sale of electric vehicles to determine a ratio based on individual countries. The number of public charging stations per kilometer of main road was also calculated. Sources include national statistical offices, trade media, and business associations.
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