EU Council mandates trans-European EV charging corridors

The European Council has adopted a new law under the Fit for 55 policy that will see EV fast charging stations installed every 60km along the EU’s main transport corridors, the ‘trans-European transport (TEN-T) network’.

The European Council’s newly adopted Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) puts in place specific deployment targets that will have to be met in 2025 and 2030 across the transport sector.

Specifically, the regulation will see extensive recharging and refuelling stations for alternative fuels deployed across Europe to support the transport sector in reducing its carbon footprint.

“The new law is a milestone of our ‘Fit for 55’ policy providing for more public recharging capacity on the streets in cities and along the motorways across Europe. We are optimistic that in the near future, citizens will be able to charge their electric cars as easily as they do today in traditional petrol stations,” commented Raquel Sánchez Jiménez, Spanish minister of transport, mobility and urban agenda.

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Main deployment targets for 2025 and 2030

The regulation provides for the following specific deployment targets:

• From 2025 onwards, fast recharging stations of at least 150kW for cars and vans need to be installed every 60km along the EU’s TEN-T network
• Recharging stations for heavy-duty vehicles with a minimum output of 350kW need to be deployed every 60km along the TEN-T core network, and every 100 km on the larger TEN-T comprehensive network from 2025 onwards, with complete network coverage by 2030
• Hydrogen refuelling stations serving both cars and lorries must be deployed from 2030 onwards in all urban nodes and every 200km along the TEN-T core network
• Maritime ports welcoming a minimum number of large passenger vessels, or container vessels, must provide shore-side electricity for such vessels by 2030
• Airports must provide electricity to stationary aircraft at all gates by 2025, and at all remote stands by 2030
• Users of electric or hydrogen-fuelled vehicles must be able to pay easily at recharging or refuelling points with payment cards or contactless devices and without a need for a subscription and in full price transparency
• Operators of recharging or refuelling points must provide consumers full information through electronic means on the availability, waiting time or price at different stations

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The AFIR is part of the Fit for 55 package, which was presented by the Commission in July 2021. The package aims to enable the EU to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels and to achieve climate neutrality in 2050.

The EU’s TEN-T policy aims to develop high-quality transport infrastructure across the EU, consisting of railways, inland waterways, short sea shipping routes and roads linking urban nodes, maritime and inland ports, airports and terminals.

The announcement of the AFIR coincided with the conclusion of negotiations surrounding the newly adopted Energy Efficiency Directive, which sets new binding targets for EU member states to reduce energy consumption.