Agreement reached on expanding EU-wide EV charging infrastructure
As part of the European Commission’s ‘Fit for 55’ package, a proposal to revise the 2014 directive on alternative fuels infrastructure and turn it into a regulation was subject to interinstitutional negotiations since November 2022. On 28 March, the Council and the European Parliament have found a provisional political agreement to deploy more recharging and refuelling stations for alternative fuels in the EU.
The Commission issued its proposal in July 2021. Overall, the proposal’s goal is to tackle interoperability and improves user-friendliness of alternative fuels. In the draft regulation, binding targets for electric vehicle charging points and hydrogen refuelling points are suggested alongside electric charging for stationary aircraft at airports and on-shore power supply for ships at ports. The Commission, further, included provisions for Member States to ensure coverage of refuelling points for liquefied natural gas (LNG) for heavy-duty vehicles, and LNG refuelling points in ports.
The co-legislators, the Council of Ministers and the Parliaments support the goals to reduce the transport sector’s carbon footprint and to facilitate the adoption of zero- and low-emission vehicles and ships. Theiragreement, hence, keeps the key parameters of the Commission’s proposal, including requirements for power capacity and Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) coverage for recharging light and heavy-duty vehicles and hydrogen refuelling.
However, amendments were made to certain aspects of the proposal. A gradual infrastructure deployment process is to begin in 2025 to cover all TEN-T roads by 2030. The requirements prioritize the deployment of gaseous hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, with a focus on urban nodes and multimodal hubs, to maximize efficiency and adapt to technological developments. The text also aims to ensure that electric recharging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is easy to use, with different payment and price-display options available. It, further, establishes obligations, progress tracking, and common standards for stakeholders. Moreover, the agreement includes a clause for a specific review in the short term and a medium-term review of the entire regulation, anticipating significant technological and market developments in the heavy-duty vehicle sector.
In the next steps, the provisional agreement is now subject to formal approval by the two co-legislators. On the Council’s side, the Swedish presidency intends to submit the text to the member states’ representatives timely.
The agreement is particularly relevant as Berlin and Brussels struck a deal after a dispute over the planned phaseout by 2035 of the sale of cars using fossil fuels in the previous week. This matter relates to the future use of e-fuels in cars. Germany’s traffic minister Volker Wissing previously positioned himself against an EU combustion engine ban. The compromise entails that automakers can continue to sell ICE-motorised products, but they must run on e-fuel. Vehicles running on e-fuel in Europe would however need a technology that prevents them from running on diesel or gasoline. There is no information about how manufacturers would implement such systems at the moment.