Charge Up at Home: The Exception, Not the Norm
Currently, home charging remains inaccessible for most electric vehicle owners. With only 7% of underground garages equipped with wall boxes, the vast majority of residents who park underground have no way to charge at home. The gap between EV adoption ambitions and charging reality is stark.
An ADAC survey revealed the full scale of the problem: 82% of properties still lack charging facilities. For the millions of Germans living in apartment buildings, charging an EV means relying entirely on public infrastructure — infrastructure that is itself still woefully inadequate in many areas.
The Barriers to Progress
Several factors continue to slow the rollout of residential charging infrastructure:
- Green energy adoption is increasing, yet charging accessibility hasn’t kept pace. More people want to drive electric, but they can’t charge where they live.
- Current expansion plans are moving too slowly. At the present rate of installation, Germany will fall far short of its infrastructure targets.
- Government support and simplified offerings are essential. The regulatory framework exists, but implementation remains complex and expensive for property owners.
- Recent legal changes haven’t yet made a substantial impact. While German law now gives tenants the right to request a wallbox installation, the practical and financial hurdles remain significant.
Electric Car Owners Can Hope for the Best
Germany aims to have 15 million electric vehicles on its roads by 2030. Achieving this goal requires a massive infrastructure buildout: approximately 1 million public chargers and 10 million semi-private chargers need to be installed in the coming years.
These numbers are daunting, but they also represent an enormous opportunity. The technology to make residential EV charging simple and affordable exists today — what’s needed is the will to deploy it at scale.
At HeyCharge, we believe that making the transition to electric vehicles should be as easy as possible. We’re partnering with industry stakeholders across the value chain to expand charging accessibility for all users, regardless of where they live or park. Because the future of mobility shouldn’t depend on whether you’re lucky enough to have a garage with an internet connection.