Germany to Require All Gas Stations Offer Electric Vehicle Charging

FRANKFURT — The electric vehicle (EV) industry in Germany is getting a boost.

The country is growing its commitment to the alternative mobility method by requiring all gas stations to offer EV charging. The move is part of the German government's $146-billion economic recovery plan, according to Reuters.

As part of the government stimulus, approximately $2.8 billion will be spent on battery cell production and charging infrastructure.

The plan also calls for taxes to penalize ownership of large polluting combustion-engine sports utility vehicles and a roughly $7,000 subsidy towards the cost of an EV.

"It's a very clear commitment to battery-powered vehicles and establishes electric mobility as a technology of the future," energy storage specialist The Mobility House, whose investors include Daimler and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, said. "Internationally this puts Germany in the leading group of battery electric vehicle support."

According to the news outlet, electric cars made up only 1.8 percent of new passenger car registrations in Germany last year. Of the 168,148 new registrations in May, only 5,578, or 3.3 percent, were electric cars.

Diego Biasi, chairman and co-founder in Quercus Real Assets, said the German plan would provide a significant boost to electric vehicle adoption. "We know that 97 percent of the reason why they're not buying electric cars is range anxiety. The German move is a way to try and fix this range anxiety since it means you know a petrol station is always open."

As of March, Germany had 27,730 electric car charging stations according to BDEW, Germany's association for the energy and water industry, Reuters added.