Stephan Neugebauer, Director of Global Research Cooperation at BMW, said in a recent interview that, despite being successful, the electric vehicles need more infrastructure in the future. Neugebauer’s conclusions are that these EVs are too expensive, do not have enough range and there are not enough charging stations.

Last week, Neugebauer advised senior officials of the European Commission last week that more money should be invested in a better charging infrastructure.

“No one will buy an electric car if you can’t charge it near your work or home. It’s as simple as that. That is why we must continue our partnership with the European Union [as in: EU-funded research, ed.] Except that we no longer need to focus solely on the actual development of the car itself, as has been mainly the case in recent years. We should focus on cooperation with others, like energy companies and municipalities.”

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Furthermore, Neugebauer said that the aim is to create a finely knit network of charging stations. This is only possible if municipalities make room for these in their spatial planning proposals. Of course, faster charging stations are also required for the mass adoption of EVs to take place.

The electric car can only conquer the market if it becomes just as easy to charge as a mobile phone, Neugebauer believes.

“You just have to be able to drive somewhere and stick the plug into a socket so that you can charge a car. That’s my vision for the future.”

All these changes are also required for the carmakers to become almost totally carbon-neutral by 2050, an ambitious target set by the EU.