EU passes law to blanket highways with fast EV chargers by end of 2025

The Council of the EU has adopted new rules intended to make it much easier for EV owners to travel across Europe, while simultaneously helping to reduce the output of harmful greenhouse gases.

The new regulation is set to benefit owners of electric cars and vans in three ways: It reduces range anxiety by expanding the EV charging infrastructure along Europe’s main highways, it makes payments “at the pump” easier without requiring an app or subscription, and ensures pricing and availability is clearly communicated to avoid surprises.

From 2025 onward, the new regulation requires fast charging stations offering at least 150kW of power to be installed every 60km (37mi) along the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network, or (TEN-T) system of highways, the bloc’s main transport corridor. The fast charging network along European highways is already pretty robust, I discovered on a recent 3,000km (2,000 mile) roadtrip with a VW ID Buzz. This new law could all but eliminate range anxiety for those sticking to TEN-T roads.

The good news is the regulation mandates that charging stations along the TEN-T “core” road network — the most important roads linking major cities and nodes — should be capable of at least 400kW of total output by December 31st, 2025. This includes having at least one charging point capable of an individual output of at least 150kW. By December 31st, 2027 the regulation requires at least 600kW of total output and the same individual charging point requirement of at least 150kW.

Some charging stations are marketed as 150kW right now, but then limit output per charging point cable so EV owners don’t always get the speedy charge they were expecting. The new regulation will mean there’s at least one charging point at these stations capable of the speedier 150kW output, which is essential for some current EVs that can handle 350kW and future models that will undoubtedly exceed this.

Yes, Tesla’s chargers, like this V4 Supercharger in the Netherlands, are generally open to all comers in Europe, no adapter needed since even Teslas come standard with CCS charging ports.

Mandated deployment of EV fast chargers along the TEN-T “comprehensive” road network — roads that connect EU regions back to the core network — will happen on a longer timeframe. The regulation still requires a maximum distance of 60km between fast chargers, but they must have a total of at least 300kW of power output, with at least one charging point capable of at least 150kW by December 31st, 2027, but only for at least 50 percent of comprehensive roads, expanding to all of them by the end of 2030. By December 31st, 2035 those charging stations should be capable of at least 600kW total output with at least two charging points capable of at least 150kW output. Lightly trafficked roads or locations that just don’t make socio-economic sense can be excluded from the requirement.

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