JOLT Energy Calls for Three-Point Plan to Accelerate Urban Charging Infrastructure Expansion in Germany

• The rapid growth of electric mobility risks stalling in urban areas because fast charging infrastructure is being expanded too slowly.
• An electric mobility company calls for an urban fast-charging initiative to overcome major obstacles.
• Allocating site quotas in public spaces, imposing a mandatory three-month deadline for low-voltage connections and improving cooperation between municipalities, energy suppliers and charging network operators are urgently needed.

Munich, 27 July 2023 – The rapid growth of electric mobility, a cornerstone of the German federal government's climate protection strategy for the coming years, is at risk because fast-charging infrastructure in cities and metropolitan areas is expanding too slowly. JOLT Energy GmbH (JOLT), a pioneer in operating ultra-fast charging stations in urban areas, is therefore calling for an immediate programme to accelerate the expansion of inner-city fast-charging networks.

“Without the ability to charge quickly and reach their destination without hindrance, potential EV buyers hesitate,” says Maurice Neligan, CEO of JOLT. Demand for ultra-fast charging is enormous, as usage data from JOLT stations in many major German cities shows. According to the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), the gap between the number of electric vehicles and the number of charging stations is also continuing to widen.

Several obstacles, however, are unnecessarily hindering the urgently needed expansion of public fast-charging infrastructure for climate protection: complicated tendering processes for public sites, excessively long processing times for power connections, insufficient commitment from municipalities and significant gaps in knowledge about this new technology. “Municipalities, energy suppliers and grid operators must act now to avoid jeopardizing the rise of electric mobility,” says Neligan. JOLT's initiative for municipal fast charging has three main points:

1. New rules for tendering procedures:

Instead of lengthy, often legally uncertain tenders covering entire areas, JOLT calls for the periodic allocation of smaller groups of locations in public spaces. A similar approach is already used for wind and solar farms. Such measures encourage rapid private-sector solutions and break the prevailing monopoly of energy suppliers and municipal companies.

2. Mandatory three-month deadline for electricity connections:

Completed fast charging stations often remain unused because approval for electricity connections takes excessively long. “We sometimes wait up to twelve months for electricity connections, which hardly lives up to Germany's much-vaunted speed,” says Maurice Neligan. JOLT calls on municipalities, particularly their local grid operators and energy suppliers, to apply more pressure. Every application for an electricity connection to charging infrastructure should be processed within no more than three months of submission.

3. Closer cooperation between municipalities, energy suppliers and charging network operators:

To overcome local obstacles and give residents a safe, reliable fast-charging network at busy inner-city sites, JOLT proposes initiating round-table discussions with energy suppliers, other relevant municipal companies and charge point operators (CPOs). These discussions could address the existing lack of information, another obstacle to expanding the fast-charging network. The significant differences in charging speeds between alternating-current, direct-current and high-power charging (AC, DC and HPC) are often unknown both to policymakers and the general public (see graphic in the appendix).

At JOLT charging stations, electric vehicle drivers can charge up to 100 km of range within five minutes, thanks to the high charging power of 320 kW. JOLT’s charging points combine a charging station with a battery storage system, making the modern HPC charging technology compatible with readily available low-voltage power connections. As charging speeds significantly increase, the size of the vehicle battery and the sheer number of chargers will become less critical factors. “Nobody wants to hang around for hours at one of the thousands of AC chargers in Germany. People want to recharge a few hundred kilometers of range within minutes and continue their journey,” asserts Neligan, a long-time electric vehicle enthusiast. Therefore, he insists, “Charging must be as easy and fast as refueling.”

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