European EV Charging Report 2024

There are almost 750,000 public charge points with a total of 28.7 GW of charging capacity in Europe. Find out where they are and who’s operating them

Executive summary

Norway puts on the accelerator, the Netherlands charges ahead

01

The Tesla Model Y broke a new record in 2023 as the first electric vehicle to become Europe’s best-selling car (over 250,000 units sold). It was the most-sold battery electric vehicle (BEV) in 29 of the 32 countries assessed.

02

Norway is the clear frontrunner when it comes to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) – 20% of cars on the road are fully electric and 82% of new car sales are electric. Belgium, however, experienced the largest increase in 2023 (113%).

03

The average adhoc price to charge a Tesla Model 3 costs €8.94 per 100 km traveled. Adhoc charging is most expensive in Switzerland, Norway and Slovenia and cheapest in Iceland, Portugal and Finland.

04

Norway has the highest capacity per 100,000 inhabitants (36.3 MW) and Malta has the lowest (215 KW). Luxembourg has the highest capacity per 100km of road (2.8 MW) and Latvia the lowest (27 KW).

05

From 2022 to 2023, the number of DC chargers in Europe increased by 96%, while the number of AC chargers increased by just 57%. DC chargers experience a higher rate of increase in 29 of 32 countries in the dataset.

06

To meet AFIR’s goal of 1.3 kW of charging capacity per BEV by 2030 and assuming we reach 40 million EVs on European roads, charging capacity would need to increase 46-fold, or 270 MW added every week until the end of the decade.

There is no one route to widespread e-mobility

While Norway is the clear leader in terms of EV adoption (13,381 BEVs per 100,000 inhabitants), the Netherlands has soared ahead when it comes to charge points per capita (817 charge points per 100,000 inhabitants). Norway still comes in second in terms of charge points (447), while the Netherlands lags further behind in EVs per capita, being overtaken by Iceland, Luxembourg, Sweden and Denmark. The ‘Laggards’ consists primarily of countries in Southern and Eastern Europe, showing there is still room for improvement.

Fast chargers are increasing twice as fast

Overall, charge points in the EU increased by 360% from 2020 to 2023. Looking at the last year on a country level, Greece and Lithuania have experienced the most significant growth, followed by Cyprus and Estonia. This confirms that progress in the mobility transition in Eastern and Southern Europe is starting to catch up, while the more advanced countries begin to plateau. In 2023, AC chargers increased, on average, by 57%, while DC chargers almost doubled (a 96% increase). 

Higher charging density in the Nordics, the Netherlands and the alps

This map clearly highlights the areas with the higher power per capita: the Nordics, the Netherlands, Scotland, a corridor across the Austrian, Italian and Swiss alps, as well as certain regions in central France and Germany. On the flip side, we clearly see that Eastern and Southern Europe continues to lag, with a few exceptions around the capital regions. The UK, Italy, Portugal and Spain sit in the middle of the pack with uneven distribution across each country.

Get more out of your charging sites

Although the rate of increase in electric vehicles is starting to slow (following a typical S-curve trajectory), the rapid rise to mass adoption is on the horizon – so now is the time to prepare for the onslaught. Guaranteeing users seamless and convenient charging is the cornerstone of the e-mobility revolution. User-friendly, connected, widespread and fast electric vehicle charging infrastructure will now take center stage.

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