Some 3 million public charging points will be needed for 44 million electric vehicles in 2030 if the EU is to become climate neutral by 2050, new research by green campaign and research group Transport & Environment (T&E) shows.

That’s over 15 times the 185,000 public chargers currently available in the EU – which are enough for the current electric fleet but not to keep pace with the growing market beyond 2020.

To finance the necessary chargers, the analysis estimates Europe needs €20 billion over the next 11 years, or €1.8 billion a year on average, in private and targeted public investment. This is just 3% of the EU’s annual spend on road infrastructure today.

T&E argues this is a business opportunity and co-financing can come from the European investment plan, which will support €1 trillion of sustainable investment over the next decade under the EU Green Deal.

Home and workplace charging must be prioritised, and between 20-30% of these chargers will need to be in disadvantaged and less densely populated areas to ensure everyone benefits from zero-emissions vehicles, said T&E.