Which European countries have the most electric car charging points?

PARIS: The number of electric charging points on Europe's roads is not growing fast enough compared with sales of electric cars, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

There is also a big disparity between countries that have already widely adopted electric cars and those that are lagging behind.

In 2023, just over 150,000 public charging stations were installed in the European Union, bringing the total to 632,423 across the continent.

This remains insufficient, particularly in view of the uptake of electric vehicles by European motorists. Since 2017, the number of public charging points has increased six-fold, while sales of electric cars have risen 18-fold over the same period. Infrastructure deployment is therefore not keeping pace with electric car sales.

The European Commission has a target of achieving 3.5 million charging stations by 2030, but this may be hard to achieve, since it would require the addition of 410,000 public charging points per year, ie, almost three times the current rate of installation.

Moreover, the ACEA estimates that 8.8 million charge points will be needed by 2030.

Among Europe's top performers are the Netherlands - with no fewer than 144,453 charging points available nationwide by the end of 2023 - Germany (120,625) and France (119,255).

Behind them are Belgium (44,363), Italy (41,114), Sweden (37,166) and Spain (30,385).

It should be noted, however, that the number of fast charging points is relatively limited in the Netherlands (just 3,892), compared to Germany (22,921) and France (18,488), which are far ahead of all other EU countries in this field.

If you drive electric, it's best to avoid the Baltic States, Austria, Greece and Hungary, where the number of charging points is still very low.

Outside the European Union, it's in Norway that electric cars are most in vogue on the Old Continent.

Norway is the country with the highest proportion of electric car sales in the world. They now account for over 80% of new car sales.

The authorities are even aiming for 100% by 2025 - a world first! The country also boasts over 11,000 charging points.