Volkswagen is redoubling its efforts in the field of charging infrastructure for electric cars.

Throughout Europe, the VW Group will be installing a total of 36,000 charging points by 2025; 11,000 of these are to be developed by the Volkswagen brand. They will be installed at Volkswagen plants and at about 3,000 Volkswagen dealerships in all large towns and cities.

With its Group company for charging infrastructure Elli (Electric Life) and its charging service “We Charge”, Volkswagen is also moving into further business areas connected with charging. All in all, the Group is investing about €250 million at its European locations. At the same time, the Group calls for other measures to take effect rapidly for more charging stations in Germany.

“Charging infrastructure will increasingly become the crucial factor for the rapid breakthrough of e-mobility in Germany. Charging an electric car must become just as easy and normal as charging a smart phone. This is why we need significantly more charging stations in public spaces and simple rules for the installation of private Wallboxes. Volkswagen intends to send out a signal and is becoming involved in the development of charging infrastructure at all levels,” says Thomas Ulbrich, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand responsible for E-Mobility.

Estimates by Volkswagen indicate that 70 percent of all charging operations will be carried out at home or work in the future. Volkswagen company Elli will be offering complete charging solutions for companies and consumers to meet these requirements from 2020 onwards. These will range from affordable Wallboxes including installation to appropriate eco-power. At Volkswagen plants throughout Germany, the brand will be installing about 4,000 charging points for employees; many of these will be accessible to the public.

Public charging stations will be used for about a quarter of all charging operations. With Volkswagen’s “We Charge” service, consumers will have access to more than 100,000 charging points throughout Europe in the future – in the medium term, the figure is set to rise to 150,000 charging points.

Partnerships with retail chains are planned, allowing owners of VW electric cars to charge their cars conveniently while they are shopping. A start has been made with Tesco in the UK and other chains are to follow.

Volkswagen has also laid the main foundations for charging on long highway journeys. The models of the ID. family offer longer ranges and are designed for fast charging. The ID.3 can be charged at a fast charging station with 100 to 125 kilowatts depending on the option selected. Together with industrial partners, Volkswagen will also be installing 400 fast charging stations with up to 2,400 charging points along major routes and highways throughout Europe by 2020 under the IONITY umbrella.

In addition, Volkswagen is bringing fast charging infrastructure to urban areas. The first 28 fast charging stations not located on the autobahn network are to be commissioned in Wolfsburg at the end of June. They are part of Volkswagen AG’s present to the city of Wolfsburg on its 80th anniversary.