The European Parliament and the Council have reached a political agreement to increase the installation of electric and hydrogen charging stations for heavy duty vehicles on the main corridors and transport hubs of the European Union. Charging stations for heavy duty vehicles, to be installed from 2025 onwards, should be installed every 60 km along the TEN-T core network, and every 100 km on the TEN-T comprehensive network. The objective is to achieve the transition to emission-free road transport and to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
The new Regulation sets mandatory deployment targets for electric recharging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructures in the road transport sector, in sea and inland ports, and for stationary aircraft. The aims to be achieved are:
The expansion of the refuelling infrastructure for passenger cars and vans should be in line with the rate of adoption of electric vehicles. To achieve this, an available power of 1.3 kW should be provided through a publicly accessible charging infrastructure for each battery electric car registered in a Member State. In addition, from 2025, fast charging stations of at least 150 kW must be installed every 60 km along the trans-European transport network (TEN-T).
For heavy-duty vehicles, with a minimum power output of 350 kW, charging stations should be deployed every 60 km along the TEN-T core network and every 100 km on the TEN-T comprehensive network from 2025 onwards, reaching full network coverage by 2030. In addition, refuelling stations should be installed in safe and secure parking areas for overnight refuelling as well as in urban nodes for delivery vehicles.
Hydrogen refuelling infrastructure must be deployed at all urban nodes and every 200 km along the TEN-T core network from 2030 onwards, ensuring a sufficiently dense network to allow hydrogen vehicles to circulate throughout the EU.
Hydrogen refuelling and refuelling station operators are also required to ensure full transparency on prices offered, a common payment method, such as debit or credit card, and relevant data, such as location, by electronic means, to ensure full customer information.
The political agreement reached has been welcomed by the European Commission, which considers that the Regulation, by ensuring a minimum amount of recharging and refuelling infrastructure across the EU, will remove end-consumers’ concerns about the difficulty of recharging or refuelling a vehicle. It will also allow for a user-friendly recharging and refuelling experience, with full price transparency, common payment options and consistent customer information. The new rules will enter into force after a transitional period of six months, once formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council and published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
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