Volkswagen is expanding its charging infrastructure in Germany – 750 new charging points for next year

Volkswagen is committed to expanding the charging infrastructure at is German sites and plans to install 750 new charging points next year, including the first high power charging stations capable of 300 kW.

Currently, the German automaker has set up more than 1,200 charging points across ten sites, including in Wolfsburg, Hanover, Brunswick, Salzgitter, Kassel, Emden, Osnabrück, Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden. From that list, Wolfsburg is home to its biggest charging park, with some 500 charging points located there.

The company adds that a large share of those chargers is publicly accessible and can be used by electric vehicle drivers who don’t work for Volkswagen, and the electricity for those parks comes exclusively from renewable energy sources.

With this expansion plan, Volkswagen expects 2,000 charging points to be up and running by the end of 2021, which is 50% more than at present. Looking further ahead, the company wants to have some 4,000 charging points in operation at its sites by 2025.

This initiative isn’t just limited to Volkswagen’s main sites, as dealers will also be involved, with every dealer in Germany set to provide at least one AC charger with 11 kW of power and one DC charger with 22 kW of power. That’s not all, as markets outside Germany will also see fast-charging networks being set up, including by IONITY in Europe, Electrify America in the United States, and CAMS in China.

“As announced, 2020 marked the start of Volkswagen’s major electric offensive. We successfully launched the ID.3, and are already following that up with the next model, the ID.4. Volkswagen is also making an important contribution to the urgently needed expansion of the charging infrastructure,” said Thomas Ulbrich, member of the board of management of the Volkswagen Brand responsible for e-mobility.

“We need significantly more charging points in Germany and Europe if electric vehicles are to establish themselves quickly. For that reason, all players from the fields of politics and industry must continue their efforts in the coming year,” he added.

Volkswagen also offers proprietary wallboxes, charging services and green power tariffs via its subsidiary Elli. For home charging, there are two models eligible for a 900-euro (RM4,469) incentive, namely the ID. Charger Connect at 599 euros (RM2,974) and the ID. Charger Pro at 849 euros (RM4,215) – both provide up to 7.4 kW (single-phase) or 11 kW (three-phase) of AC power.

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