Citizens believe that it is a “good basis” to negotiate with the European Council, which they consider to have a “too lukewarm” position
Oct. 18 () –
The European Parliament will vote this Wednesday on a European directive on the implementation of an infrastructure for alternative fuels (AFIR, for its acronym in English) that aims to create binding objectives for all the countries of the European Union (EU) in terms of the number of electric recharging points on the highways of each country in the bloc.
Specifically, it plans to establish a minimum coverage of the recharging infrastructure that sets the maximum distance between stations in both directions of the road at 60 kilometers, in addition to public access recharging points for light vehicles having “sufficient available power” .
Currently in Spain there are around 16,000 electric recharging points distributed throughout the territory and it is estimated that, based on different projections on the evolution of the implementation of this type of vehicle, around 613,000 electric stations would be needed by 2035.
“The one that is voted on tomorrow is a good basis for the negotiation with the European Council, which, as we feared, has a too lukewarm position and that is not going to help in any way the development of sustainable mobility”, he stressed in statements to Europa Press the MEP of Ciudadanos Susana Solís.
In its current wording, the directive also aims to establish a volume of charging points “proportional to the adoption of light electric vehicles” in each country.
Thus, it states that for each light battery electric vehicle registered in a member country “a total available power of at least one kilowatt (kW) is supplied” through publicly accessible charging stations, while for each light plug-in hybrid vehicle a total available power of at least 0.66 kW is supplied.
“It is a step in the right direction, but we cannot ignore the challenges that electrification will bring to the network’s capacity, investment in gigafactories that can compete with foreign powers, or the reduction in critical matters,” added Solís.
No later than December 31, 2025, each recharge group
must offer an available power of at least 300 kW and
include at least one charging station with a power
individual available of at least 150 kW, picks up the text that will vote this Wednesday in the European Parliament.
In addition, by the end of 2030, each charging group must have an available power of at least 600 kW and include at least two stations with an individual power of at least 150 kW.
As for the coverage of the network, the citizen MEP has assured that she does not agree with the exemptions for the outermost regions and has opined that it is not possible to “create first and second-class territories” and that it is “precisely in the territories with a more complicated application in which it is more important that the binding objectives are maintained”, as well as “in depopulated areas”.
As for heavy vehicles, the coverage of the network must be similar to that of passenger cars, but the objectives of installed power are increased.
“No later than December 31, 2025, each recharge group
must offer an available power of at least 1,400 kW and
include at least one charging station with a power
available individual of at least 350 kW”, details the text, which extends the objectives for 2030 up to 3,500 kW and two stations of at least 350 kW.
“It is very positive that clear signals are being sent for heavy vehicles, but taking into account that electric and hydrogen trucks are not as developed as cars. More accessible recharging points for trucks with a charging power in line with the 45 minutes of mandatory rest and more presence in logistics centers”, advocated Solís.
HYDROGEN REFUELING
Regarding refueling for vehicles that run on hydrogen, Member States shall ensure that, before December 31, 2030, a minimum number of publicly accessible hydrogen refueling stations have been installed in their territory.
Thus, before December 31, 2030, public access hydrogen refueling stations with a minimum capacity of two tons per day and equipped with at least one 700-bar dispenser should have been implemented, located at a maximum distance of 150 kilometers between them. .
“Liquid hydrogen will be supplied at public access refueling stations located at a maximum distance of 450 kilometers between them,” the text adds.
Likewise, in each EU country, before December 31, 2030, there must be at least one publicly accessible hydrogen refueling station in each urban node.
“An analysis of the best location of these refueling stations will be carried out, which will take into account, in particular, their implementation in multimodal centers where they can also supply other modes of transport,” adds the document that will be voted on this Wednesday in the European Parliament.
