Prague plans to install 1,500 EV chargers for CZK 493 million

Prague plans to install 1,500 slow EV chargers on its streets in the coming years, at a cost of CZK 492.8 million including VAT. The city plans to secure about CZK 205 million from European grants. The city council approved the project contracts today. Installation will be handled by city-owned companies Technology of the Capital City of Prague (THMP) and Technical Administration of Roads (TSK).

At the end of last November, Prague had 791 EV charging stations with 1,352 charging points, according to information from the Ministry of Transport’s Transport Research Centre. The same source reported that about 16,300 passenger EVs were registered in the capital at the end of last September.

Under the document approved by the city council, the city will sign two framework agreements with THMP and TSK, under which additional chargers will be installed. Their management and operation will be addressed later. According to earlier information, some chargers will be installed on streetlights and others as standalone units, Deputy Mayor Jaromír Beránek (Pirates) confirmed today.

He added that the planned 1,500 EV chargers will include up to 2,500 charging points. “The final expected completion date is around mid-2028,” he said. Drivers will be able to pay using the city’s PID Lítačka app and other options, he said, and charging even vehicles with the largest battery capacity should take just a few hours.

The city had previously planned to select a concessionaire to operate the charging infrastructure, but reconsidered, according to the approved document. “Following political discussions, it was decided to abandon the originally intended model of selecting a concessionaire and develop an alternative operating model,” the document says. Beránek said the city dropped the concession model after lengthy discussions, partly because of the conditions attached to the European grant, which require the city to own the chargers ultimately—a potentially complicated arrangement under a concession. The deputy mayor said THMP would probably be responsible for operating them.

For several years, THMP has been retrofitting selected streetlights so that chargers can be installed in them. It has done so on some lights and also operates standalone chargers. Ondřej Prokop, head of ANO’s Prague branch and an opposition city councillor, criticized the installations to date today. “For hundreds of millions of crowns, Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) installed dozens of stations that cannot be used because they are located without traffic signs, in no-parking zones or even in spaces for people with disabilities. This problem won’t be solved by throwing more money at it,” he said.

Since January, EVs in the capital have had to pay for parking in paid parking zones; an annual resident permit costs CZK 600. They had previously parked for free. The city council also approved today a proposal allowing EV owners to buy an annual permit for CZK 24,000 to park throughout Prague in paid parking zones. In addition, the council approved a requirement that all taxis in the capital be electric from 2030. The city assembly will still vote on the proposal.