A consortium led by E.ON is receiving €45 million in European funding to expand the charging infrastructure for electric cars and commercial vehicles in Europe. The DRIVE-E project is one of 39 innovative projects recently selected by the European Union to develop alternative fuel infrastructure. A total of 1,400 new charging points will be installed.

A consortium led by E.ON is receiving €45 million in European funding to expand the charging infrastructure for electric cars and commercial vehicles in Europe. The DRIVE-E project is one of 39 innovative projects recently selected by the European Union to develop alternative fuel infrastructure. A total of 1,400 new public charging points will be installed by the end of 2027, of which 430 will be for heavy commercial vehicles, each with a capacity of 350 kW or more. The project will be implemented in 13 EU countries and will make a significant contribution to the electrification of European freight and passenger transport.

The DRIVE-E project partners are E.ON, ZSE and Eldrive, who will jointly build a network of charging points for cars and light and heavy commercial vehicles along the main trans-European freight routes. This will include locations specifically designed for truck charging, as well as mixed spaces for trucks and cars. Another objective of the project is to complement and extend the existing network for light commercial vehicles in areas where there are gaps in the infrastructure.

The charging points will be located in over 250 locations in Germany, Austria, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

The project is co-financed by the European Union under the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) II programme. It is a key element in the EU’s ambitious plan to expand charging infrastructure across the entire trans-European transport network, thereby contributing to increasing the efficiency and sustainability of freight and passenger transport in Europe. The second phase of AFIF (2024-2025) was launched in February 2024, with a total budget of €1 billion.