E-mobility in Czechia continues to grow, charging station use rises by tens of percent

E-mobility in Czechia continues to grow. During the first half of this year, as many as hundreds of new charging stations for electric cars were added to the network. Alongside this, both consumption and the number of user charging sessions rose by tens of percent. This is according to information provided to the Czech News Agency (ČTK) by major charging station operators. At the end of last year, there were around 1360 charging stations in Czechia, according to official statistics.

Charging of electric vehicles on the network of energy company ČEZ rose by 12 percent year on year in the first half of the year to 2.3 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of zero-emission electricity. This is also five times the consumption recorded five years ago. The average amount of energy delivered per charging session is also increasing, rising by 14 percent year on year to 19 kWh. According to the company, drivers charged their cars more than 123.000 times on its network. ČEZ has so far brought 51 new electric vehicle charging stations into operation in the first half of the year, bringing its total to more than 550.

„We pay great attention to the expansion of e-mobility at ČEZ. We are rapidly building new stations and also increasing their capacity. We essentially try to include at least one ultra-fast charger in every new charging hub we bring into operation, where drivers need to stop for only a few minutes,“ said ČEZ Deputy Chairman of the Board Pavel Cyrani.

Pražská energetika, which operates more than 600 charging stations, is also seeing e-mobility grow across its network. It has added 150 new stations this year. „If we compare year-on-year consumption at charging stations, then by mid-2023 we had reached a level equivalent to almost 74 percent of the energy consumed over the whole of last year,“ spokesperson Karel Hanzelka said. The company has its strongest coverage in Prague, with the busiest stations in Chodov and Černý Most.

According to Hanzelka, PRE has recently been focusing heavily on ultra-fast charging stations. „A large part of our network consists of stations that we can easily and quickly upgrade to output exceeding 100 kW, enabling ultra-fast charging,“ Hanzelka explained.

E.ON also reported high charging figures at its stations. From January to the end of June, drivers completed 42.186 charging sessions on its network, 46 percent more year on year. The amount of energy consumed rose by 63 percent compared with the first half of last year, with motorists drawing 780 MW from E.ON. „To put this in perspective, based on data from the Transport Research Centre, that amount of electricity would be enough to fully charge more than ten thousand Škoda Enyaq electric vehicles,“ spokesperson Roman Šperňák said.

E.ON currently has 369 public charging points at 187 stations in Czechia. The latest ones were installed in recent weeks, for example in Karlovy Vary, Chomutov and Jihlava. In addition, the company helps operate 60 partner charging stations, where a private entity purchases a charging station and E.ON connects it to its network.

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