Internal combustion engine crucible Germany orders electric car chargers at all fuel pumps

The government of Germany has directed all the fuel stations across the country to install electric car charging points to address the refuelling concerns of electric car users and in turn to boost the demand of electric cars in the country as part of its 130 billion euro (USD 146 billion) economic recovery plan.

The decision by the German government is touted to boost the electric vehicle sales, in addition to the imposition of penalties including taxes on ownership of large polluting combustion-engined sports utility vehicles and a 6,000 euro subsidy towards the cost of an electric vehicle.

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The decision by Germany comes after the French Government announced measures last week to boost the electric car sales. The German government has decided to spend 2.5 billion euros on battery cell production and charging infrastructure, where oil majors are dominant at present. The government's focus on manufacturing battery cells and charging infrastructure comes as a result of the constraints limiting the sale of electric vehicles. In Germany, electric cars made up only 1.8% of new passenger car registrations last year, with diesel and petrol cars accounting for 32% and 59.2% respectively, as per media reports. Of the 168,148 new registrations in May, only 5,578 or 3.3% were electric cars according to German vehicle agency KBA.

As of March 2020, Germany had 27,730 electric car charging stations, however, at least 70,000 charging stations and 7,000 fast-charging stations are required to achieve a mass market for electric cars, according to BDEW, Germany's association for the energy and water industry.

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The Indian Electric Vehicle Industry is also facing similar hurdles with consumers having anxieties of inadequate charging infrastructure and reliance on imported components and batteries. Fear of the range that the vehicle will not reach its destination due to insufficient charging in one go, not to forget the exorbitant prices of electric vehicles. Indian EV market has seen a few isolated launches which have not yet made their mark in the race to the battery-operated future of vehicle industry across the world.

However, Indian car manufacturers are now gearing up for the future as Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors among others came up with new and improved models which were seen in the Auto Expo 2020 that took place in February in Delhi.