The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have reached an agreement on a proposal that would make a charging station available every six miles along the region’s core road network in a few years.
This agreement is set to make significant changes to the hydrogen market and charging infrastructure across the European Union — particularly in Sweden — accelerating the transition to sustainable transportation in the region.
“The agreement will send a clear signal to citizens and other stakeholders that user-friendly recharging infrastructure and refueling stations for alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, will be installed throughout the EU.”
Andreas Carlson, Swedish minister for infrastructure and housing
The regulation mandates that publicly available recharging pools for light vehicles must be available every six miles along the TEN-T core road network by 2025. This network includes the European roads E4, E6 and E10, as well as parts of E18, E20 and Rv40 in Sweden.
Per the new regulation, these recharging pools should have “a power output of at least 300 kW and include at least one recharging station with an individual power output of 150 kW” by 2025.” By 2030, each recharging pool must have “a power output of at least 600 kW and include at least two recharging stations with output of at least 150 kW.”
Member states have the option to apply for a halved power requirement along roads with fewer than 8,500 cars per annual average day.
This applies to roughly half of the TENT road network in Sweden, with only 15 percent of traffic volume. If the traffic volume is below 3,000 cars, a longer distance between charging stations can be requested.
Starting in 2025, charging stations will be built in specific urban areas specified as “urban nodes” and in parking spaces by 2027. There are around 20 designated urban areas in Sweden.
Carlson said that the increase in public recharging capacity would result in more availability of charging stations on the streets in urban areas and along the motorways. He also mentioned that citizens would no longer need to worry about locating charging and refueling stations for their electric or fuel-cell cars.
Main changes to Commission’s proposal
The provisional agreement made on the Commission’s proposal contains several amendments.
One of the main changes is that infrastructure deployment for electric heavy-duty vehicles will be a gradual process beginning in 2025, with the objective of covering all TEN-T roads by 2030. This decision is due to the specific dynamics of electric heavy-duty vehicles and the less developed market compared to light vehicles.
The provisional agreement also includes provisions to make electric recharging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure easy to use. This includes different payment and price-display options while avoiding disproportionate investment in existing infrastructure.
It also specifies the obligations of each stakeholder involved, provides for progress tracking, ensures users are properly informed, and supplies the industry with common standards and technical specifications.
The amendment also modified the requirements for the deployment of gaseous hydrogen refueling infrastructure. The new focus is to maximize efficiency and adapt to technological developments by prioritizing urban nodes and multimodal hubs.
This change assures that investments in hydrogen refueling infrastructure are deployed in the most efficient way possible.
The electric recharging requirements have undergone changes to make sure they are compatible with various circumstances on the ground. The total power of electric recharging pools has been modified, and the maximum distance between recharging pools for road sections with very low traffic may be extended.