167 Trillion Won Needed to Expand Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in Europe by 2035

Ernst & Young Analysis: 65 Million Charging Stations Needed by 2035

[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] As electric vehicle sales surge in Europe, there is an analysis emphasizing the urgent need to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

According to Bloomberg News, Ernst & Young recently analyzed in a joint report with the European Electricity Industry Association (Eurelectric) that an investment of $134 billion (approximately 166.733 trillion KRW) is required to sufficiently secure electric vehicle chargers by 2035.

Ernst & Young based this estimate on the expectation that the current number of electric vehicles in Europe, which is less than 5 million, will increase to 65 million by 2030 and to 130 million by 2035.

Ernst & Young estimated that the number of chargers needed by 2035 will be 65 million. Of these, indoor chargers are expected to account for 85% of the total, or 55.875 million units, while about 9 million outdoor chargers will be required.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (NEF), there are currently only 445,000 public chargers installed in Europe. Serge Col, Head of Energy and Resources at Ernst & Young, said, "It took 10 years to install 400,000 chargers," adding, "About 500,000 chargers need to be installed annually until 2030, and about 1 million annually from 2030 to 2035."

Ernst & Young estimated that a total of $134 billion is needed to install 65 million chargers. Specifically, $62 billion is required for outdoor charger installation, and $72 billion is needed to install 56 million indoor chargers.

[Image source= Bloomberg]

Ernst & Young also advised that power supply networks must be prepared to cope with the rapidly increasing demand for electric vehicle charging.

For chargers installed on highways, energy storage systems are essential because drivers want fast charging, which can cause significant load. For chargers installed in cities, it is necessary to consider that charging demand may surge during rush hours.

Ernst & Young explained that to prevent overload, incentives could be provided to drivers who charge outside peak times or who return electricity stored in their electric vehicle batteries back to the grid. They expect that such measures could reduce peak time electricity demand by more than 20%.

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (EAMA), last year, hybrid vehicle sales in Europe slightly surpassed internal combustion engine vehicle sales for the first time. One in every eleven cars sold in Europe last year was an electric vehicle.

Across the European Union (EU), the number of hybrid vehicle registrations increased from 1.1 million in 2020 to 1,901,239 last year. Diesel vehicle registrations decreased by more than one-third from 2.77 million in 2020 to 1,901,191 last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.