Cyprus bottom in EU for number of electric car charging points

Cyprus has the least number of charging points for electric vehicles in the EU with just 57 compared with the Netherlands which has over 90,000, stats published on Thursday show.

Although there has been a strong increase in the number of electric vehicles charging points across the EU in the past five years (+180 per cent), the total number (307,000) falls short in meeting the requirements set by the EU for 2030 that seeks to reach a 55 per cent CO2 reduction for cars.

To reach that, a recent study by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association showed that up to 6.8 million charging points would be required by 2030.

Notably, while some EU countries are driving ahead when it comes to infrastructure development, the majority lag behind. As a result, half of all chargers in the EU are concentrated in just two countries, the Netherlands and Germany.

The Netherlands currently numbers 90,284 charging stations, that is, almost 1600 times more charging points than the country with the least infrastructure, Cyprus, which numbers just 57 points.

However, just a year ago Cyprus numbered around 30 charging points, marking almost a 50 per cent increase compared to today’s figures in line with authorities’ target of eventually installing charging stations on all major highways in Cyprus.

Only this week, cabinet approved the creation of facilities across the island’s motorways, that includes among other projects, electric vehicle charging stations.

Along with the Netherlands and Germany, countries with the most charging points include France (37,128), Sweden (25,197) and Italy (23,543) while the countries with the least charging points includes Malta (98), Lithuania (207), Estonia (385) and Latvia (420)