Spain would need over 183,900 electric vehicle chargers to meet the European Union’s AFIR objectives by 2030. While its 30,345 public charging points available at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 would already meet the 2024 target, Spain faces various challenges to expanding its charging infrastructure.
We estimate that 90% of EV owners charge at home or work, which explains Spain’s vehicle-to-point ratio of 0.9 for private charging – among the top three worldwide. The ratio for public charging, though, is 13.4 vehicles per charge point, just better than the global average of 15.9 and significantly inferior to the top-three average of 1.8.
On the charging side, Spain has launched aid programs to boost the deployment of infrastructure. Subsidies now average 30% per charging point, with maximums per company and region. There are also regulations requiring the installation of charging points at petrol stations, car parks and public buildings.
In addition, the roll-out has begun of the biggest network of rapid charging stations for electric vehicles on the major highways and traffic corridors in Spain.
It is necessary to foster implementation of a reliable, useful and high-quality charging infrastructure in order to cater to EV recharging needs, with the aim of achieving a total of 5 million EVs in Spain by 2030 as a means of contributing to transport decarbonisation.
With regard to the charging infrastructure in private environments, it is necessary to promote and facilitate the deployment of points both in the homes of electric vehicle users and in workplaces and in deports intended to recharge vehicles -light and heavy- goods delivery and buses.