The nightmare that every electric car driver tries to avoid is being on a motorway without a charging point around and with the vehicle’s autonomy about to run out. However, the anguish does not end there, because a simple decorative pole can be found at the destination, provided with the corresponding plug and installation, but out of service.
The association of vehicle manufacturers Anfac estimates that there are 26,718 charging points in Spain, but almost a quarter, 6,475, are not operational due to technical or administrative issues. They are the phantom plugs, which add uncertainty to a class of mobility that, for now, is lagging behind.
“Either they lack connection permits or they are not active”, explained yesterday the director general of Anfac, Jose Lopez-Tafall, referring to this type of installation waiting for the fuse or the permit that put it in motion He explained this during the presentation of the public access charging infrastructure map in Spain, in which a less optimistic message prevailed: “The reality is that we continue with the same problems of insufficient or low power infrastructure”.
To put an end to this problem, the manufacturers are calling on the administrations to create a public platform in which they are informed precisely where they can find an operational charger. This is a function that applications such as Electromaps, Place to Plug or Chargemap already manage to supply in part.
Anfac also warns that Spain is far behind in the introduction of electric cars. By now, there should be 45,000 charging points, almost twice as many as there are currently, and by 2025 the number should reach 91,000. It would be the way to fulfill, from their point of view, the community objectives.
If you look at the number of electrified cars, there are currently 99,139 in the country, less than half of the 2023 target of 190,000. In 2030 there should be 1.3 million, but the current trend points to just 550,000.
There are 383 charging points for every million inhabitants, while in France the figure is 1,228; in Germany, 1,053, and in Portugal, 745. Ideally, there should be one public charging point for every ten electric cars.
The share of electrified cars, which includes hybrids, is now 9.6% in Spain, much lower than the 31.4% achieved in Germany or the 21.7% in Portugal and France.
For Anfac, it is necessary to reduce administrative hurdles and speed up subsidies for the purchase of electric cars so that they can be delivered at the time of purchase and not a few months later. He also complains that manufacturers are the only ones who have to meet binding targets under threat of fines, which is not the case with other companies or with states.
