German deputies adopted, on Thursday night, a law on the installation of a public network of ultra-fast charging stations for electric cars by 2023, AFP reports, according to Agerpres.

These stations will be equipped with high-power chargers – a power of at least 150 kilowatts, which will allow the battery to be charged in a few minutes. Ultra-fast charging stations are a crucial element for traveling long distances with an electric vehicle.

Currently, in Germany, the first European economy, there are only about 800 charging stations with a power of at least 150 kilowatts – about 2.4% of all charging stations accessible to the public, informs the German Ministry of Transport.

For the 1,000 new ultra-fast charging stations, the federal state will not be the network operator but will enter into long-term contracts with private companies. The tender procedure is set to be launched this summer.

The German car market has been experiencing an explosion of sales of electric cars for several months, stimulated by the consistent premiums granted by the government to the purchase of these cars. Registrations of 100% electric or hybrid cars increased in April by almost 400% compared to the same month last year, to reach 50,800 units, ie a market share of 22%.

Several car manufacturers, including BMW Group, Mercedes Benz AG, Ford Motor Company, Volkswagen Group and Hyundai Motor Group founded in 2017 the Ionity company, based in Munich (southern Germany), with the aim of stimulating the use of electric vehicles over longer distances. At the end of 2020, this joint venture installed a network of 300 charging stations in Europe, representing more than 1,200 individual chargers in Europe.