Esbjerg to install more than 200 new charging stations

The Danish Municipality wants to make driving electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles more convenient

On 19 April, the Danish Municipality of Esbjerg announced that it wants to increase the number of its charging stations from 46 to more than 260. More specifically, it revealed that it has approved the plan to install 216 new charging points, which will be publicly available to use by all drivers of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in Esbjerg, Ribe, and Bramming.

The decision to install such a large number of charging stations was reportedly influenced by the increase in the sales of green vehicles. According to the municipality, Denmark recorded the sale of 185,328 new vehicles in 2021. Of these newly purchased cars, a whopping 65,000 were electric or hybrid. Therefore, as Danish citizens are purchasing green vehicles at a much faster rate than expected, municipalities have to strengthen their efforts to provide charging infrastructure. 

“We want to make it safe for citizens to choose an electric car, even if you live in a multi-storey property or Ribe's medieval city centre and cannot leave your car on your land. When we as a municipality must be CO2 neutral in 2030, then it is essential that it must be easy to choose an electric car. It benefits the overall CO2 accounts, but it also improves our local environment, as the electric cars do not emit polluting particles,” explained the chairperson of the Climate & Environment Committee in Esbjerg Municipality, Jørgen Ahlquist.

Private companies step up

Before deciding to increase the number of charging stations in its cities, Esbjerg Municipality launched a competition to find private charging operators. After evaluating all applicants, the Danish municipality has chosen Zapp Mobility, E. ON and Clever. 

In addition to these operators, larger grocery stores and petrol stations (such as Q8, Shell, Circle K, and OK) have also begun rolling out their own charging points. In this way, the municipality will quickly provide the charging infrastructure necessary to meet the demands of its electric car drivers.