E-mobility in the district: Specialist dialogue on expanding the charging infrastructure

Daniela Kluckert, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, and Dr. Cordelia Koch, District Mayor of Berlin-Pankow, paid a visit to the National Centre for Charging Infrastructure on 7 February 2024. Both discussed the challenges facing inner-city districts in the further expansion of charging infrastructure during an informative exchange with Johannes Pallasch and Dagmar Fehler from the centre’s management team.

In October 2023, the BMDV granted the district of Pankow funding of over 225,000 euros for the procurement of 13 new e-vehicles and 13 charging points as part of the electric mobility funding guideline. This is set to double the proportion of e-vehicles in the Pankow district’s fleet. By 2030, Berlin is planning to convert the administration’s entire vehicle fleet to climate-friendly drive systems.

Daniela Kluckert: “In order to counteract prejudices and scepticism towards electric mobility, we need to break down the barriers to accessing the charging infrastructure and create successful benchmarks. Pankow is therefore setting a good example by converting its municipal vehicle fleet to climate-friendly drive systems. It is not only the availability of charging points that is crucial for success, but also the accessibility and comprehensibility of charging and payment. The overall electric mobility system will only be successful if all the components are interlinked and the charging, driving and payment experience functions smoothly. Together with the National Centre for Charging Infrastructure, we have created a strong task force to support local authorities in this huge and transformative task.”

Dr. Cordelia Koch: “As a district, it is our goal to promote e-mobility in Pankow – and I am delighted that we are able to talk about the challenges of expanding charging infrastructure locally and discuss possible solutions today.”

Johannes Pallasch, Spokesperson for the National Centre for Charging Infrastructure and Head of Division at NOW GmbH: “The nearly 11,000 municipalities play a key role in the expansion of charging infrastructure in Germany. As the National Centre for Charging Infrastructure, we therefore provide targeted support to local authorities with information guidelines and training offers such as the LadeLernTOOL. We want to help make local authorities become better equipped so that the expansion of the charging infrastructure can be implemented quickly and competently on a local level.”

Photo (from left to right): Johannes Pallasch, Head (Spokesperson) of the National Centre for Charging Infrastructure, Dagmar Fehler, Head of the National Centre for Charging Infrastructure, Daniela Kluckert, Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMDV, Dr. Cordelia Koch, District Mayor of Berlin-Pankow, Alina Hain, COO NOW GmbH, Jörn Pasternak, District Councillor Berlin-Pankow (Photo credit: © NOW GmbH)