New fast charging parks on the A31: Electromobility for NRW starts!

New fast charging parks on the A31: Electromobility for NRW starts!

Ochtrup, Deutschland - On May 20, 2025, two new speed charging parks for electric vehicles on the A31 were officially opened in North Rhine-Westphalia. These charging parks are located near the designer Outlet Center Ochtrup, specifically in the parking lots of Lau Brechte in the direction of Emden and Wester Mark in the direction of Oberhausen. According to Ruhr24 offers two charging pillars each CCS connections that can provide charging power of up to 400 kW. This means that a mid-range electric car can theoretically be charged within just ten minutes for 300 to 500 kilometers.

The new charging parks are operated exclusively with green electricity, which not only contributes to sustainability, but also increases the attractiveness of the location. The ad hoc charging price of 59 cents per kilowatt hour also positions these stations as some of the cheapest in the German motorway network. Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder described the new opening as an important step to promote electromobility in Germany.

growth of electromobility in Germany

Electromobility is increasing steadily in Germany. In April 2025, over 45,500 pure battery cars were re-approved, which corresponds to an impressive increase of almost 54 percent compared to the previous year. In the meantime, almost every fifth new car (18.8 percent) is one of the electrical vehicles. This also leads to a decline in the average CO₂ emissions of newly approved vehicles, which in April fell by 12.5 percent to 109.3 g/km.

As part of the planned measures to promote electromobility, the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport will create a new Germany network, which provides for a total of 9,000 new quick load points, including 1,000 directly on motorways. This ambitious project is to be realized with an investment of around 2.3 billion euros by the end of 2026. The goal is clear: a charging station should be accessible every ten minutes.

charging infrastructure in Germany

The charging infrastructure in Germany has developed considerably in recent years. According to Mein Autolexikon there are now over 71,000 public charging points and of which 59.357 Normaladestations. The increase is enormous: in 2020 there were still around 40,000 charging points, of which almost 4,000 quick charging stations were. Germany takes second place in Europe after the Netherlands regarding the charging infrastructure for electric cars.

Nevertheless, there is a west-east gradient in the distribution of the charging stations. While Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia are leading, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Saxony are lagging behind. In order to achieve the EU climate goals for 2030, industry recognizes a need of 6.8 million charging stations.

future of electromobility

A sustainable expansion of the charging infrastructure is crucial for the acceptance of electric cars, because according to a survey of Statista stated that the respondents indicated that Inadequate charging infrastructure is a reason for avoiding buying an electric car. In order to counteract this trend, a nationwide network integration of over one million charging points is the goal of the federal government by 2030.

In addition, the promotion of private charging infrastructure is supported by wall boxes in homes or apartment buildings in order to further increase demand and to facilitate switching to electrical vehicles. The expansion of quick charging stations and the improvement of the charging capacity are crucial to optimize the user experiences.