Charging network ranking: Saxony is the best in Germany

Andreas Dunte

Leipzig. Good news for drivers of electric cars in Saxony: the state has the best ratio of electrically powered cars to public charging points, putting it at the top of the e-charging network ranking compiled by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA).

This means that there are currently 5365 charging points for every 63,361 registered electric vehicles in Saxony. This corresponds to a T-value of 11.8, i.e. statistically speaking, 11.8 electric vehicles share one charging point.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (11.9) and Thuringia (12) took second and third place respectively. At the bottom of the ranking is Saarland. There is one charging point for every 24.5 vehicles.

The VDA attributes the good performance not only to the expansion of the charging infrastructure, but also to structural differences in the federal states.

"The number of e-cars in the new federal states is still comparatively low," says a spokesperson. For comparison: Baden-Württemberg, with a population of 11.28 million, has 408,170 e-cars. In Saxony, with a population of 4.1 million, the figure is 63,361.

One positive aspect is that the ratio of public charging points to electric cars has improved significantly compared to the last ranking a year ago. This means that the gap between supply and demand for public charging infrastructure has narrowed nationwide.

Three quarters of all municipalities still without charging points

There are 142,793 publicly accessible charging points in Germany, 30,048 of which are fast-charging points. This corresponds to an average of 17 electric cars per publicly accessible charging point. A year ago, this figure was still 21. There has been a significant increase in charging capacity, particularly in Berlin, Stuttgart and Frankfurt/Main.

Less positive is the fact that a good third of all municipalities do not have a public charging point. Three quarters of all municipalities do not have a public fast charging point. However, things looked much worse in the last ranking. There was no public charging point in almost every second municipality in Germany and no public fast-charging point in eight out of ten municipalities.

Zwickau ahead of Dresden and Leipzig in terms of charging points

In Saxony, the district of Zwickau leads the ranking. There is one charging point for every 8.9 e-cars. It is followed by Dresden (9.1) and Leipzig (10.3). In terms of fast-charging points, Dresden (965 charging points) is ahead of Leipzig and Zwickau.

"A sufficient and efficient charging infrastructure is a key factor in encouraging people to switch to e-mobility," says VDA President Hildegard Müller. She therefore also sees the results of the evaluation as positive.

At the same time, she called on politicians to push ahead with the expansion of the charging infrastructure. And: "It is not enough to simply install a charging station, the electricity grids also urgently need to be made fit for the future," continued the VDA President.