Few new municipal charging stations in Hamburg: many defective
Only twelve new municipal charging points for electric cars were installed in Hamburg in the third quarter of this year. Compared to the previous quarter, the expansion decreased by seven charging points or 37 percent, according to the Senate's response to a written question by Richard Seelmaecker, transport expert for the CDU parliamentary group. The total number of publicly accessible charging points in the city was 794 at the end of October. 50 defective charging points are currently out of operation, according to the Senate. The Senate's goal is to expand the city's charging infrastructure to 2,000 charging points by 2025.
This "already low Senate target" can hardly be achieved with the number of new charging points, said Seelmaecker. And it is far too few to cover the ever-increasing demand. "My SKA clearly shows that the green transport senator (Anjes) Tjarks is not interested in the electrification of Hamburg's car fleet," said Seelmaecker.
In its response, the Senate points out that, according to the Federal Network Agency, 390 publicly accessible charging points from other providers were available across the city in August. In addition, the transport authority sees the development of an efficient charging infrastructure "as a joint task of the public and private sectors".
According to Seelmaecker, 85 percent of Hamburg's DC fast chargers (50 kW) are currently broken. "Of a total of 50 defective public charging points, only five were repaired in the third quarter," he complained. "A disastrous result that clearly shows: once the charging points are broken, help won't come so quickly."
According to the Senate's response, the 50 defective charging points were the result of "construction-related cable fires". These columns had been installed in the early days of the charging network expansion since 2015. "To date, the manufacturer has not been able to offer a sustainable and viable solution to the technical problems," it said.
The city's goal of expanding its charging infrastructure to 2,000 charging points by 2025 might face challenges, given the current rate of installing defective charging stations. It's concerning that only five of the 50 broken charging points were fixed in the third quarter, impacting the city's citizens seeking to utilize green transportation options. Additionally, the traffic and energy departments should collaborate more closely to ensure a comprehensive and functional charging network for the environment.
Source: www.dpa.com
