The European Union’s public electric vehicle charging infrastructure is expanding ahead of demand. All Member States except Malta now have sufficient capacity to meet the targets linked to the size of their electric vehicle fleets, according to a new analysis by Transport & Environment (T&E).

The organisation said the EU had more than 1.1 million public charging points at the end of 2025, five times the number recorded in 2020. When national requirements are combined, the bloc’s installed public charging capacity exceeds the minimum fleet-based target by 180%.

The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation, known as AFIR, requires each Member State to provide at least 1.3 kW of public charging capacity for every battery electric vehicle (BEV) in its national fleet. By the end of March 2026, Malta was the only country that had not reached this threshold.

According to T&E, the figures show that the EU’s infrastructure targets are encouraging charging networks to expand in anticipation of demand, particularly following strong growth in electric car sales in 2025 and 2026.

Almost 80% of the core road network meets the 2025 target

The analysis also assesses AFIR’s distance-based requirements, which call for direct-current fast-charging stations of at least 150 kW to be available every 60 kilometres along the EU’s main roads.

By June 2026, 79% of the Trans-European Transport Network’s core routes—known as the TEN-T Core network—met the EU’s 2025 target for ultra-fast charging. This network mainly consists of national motorways and strategically important transport corridors.

Most of the remaining coverage gaps are located in Eastern EU countries and Spain. However, T&E noted that these markets also have some of the fastest-growing ultra-fast charging networks.

For the TEN-T Comprehensive network, which includes regional motorways and primary roads, 20 of the EU’s 27 Member States had already achieved their 2027 target, around 18 months before the deadline.

Spain would require 22 strategically located stations

T&E estimates that upgrading or installing just 70 charging stations in strategic locations could raise the EU’s compliance with the distance-based target to 90%.

Spain would account for the largest number of required stations, with 22, followed by Poland with 11 and Romania with seven.

Lucien Mathieu, Cars Director at T&E, said EV drivers generally no longer need to travel far to find a public charger. However, he warned that ease of use and insufficient price transparency remain significant challenges.

Addressing these issues will be particularly important for people living in apartment buildings who do not have access to private charging facilities and therefore depend on the public network to operate an electric vehicle.