The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) recommended that more investment be made for electric vehicle recharging infrastructure in the European Union after a recent report found incentives for electric vehicle charging stations were found in fewer than half of the union's countries.

The report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) found electric vehicle charging points in only 10 out of 28 countries in the Union. The ACEA said future reductions of CO2 emissions from cars and vans are strongly dependent on increased sales of electric and other alternatively-powered vehicles.

The report also found that the overall market share of electrically-chargeable vehicles remains low, despite having increased in line with the overall growth of car sales in recent years, reports the ACEA.

The increased sale of alt-fuel vehicles will only happen when an EU-wide rollout of recharging and refueling infrastructure, said the ACEA.

“Sufficient charging infrastructure is required to give people the confidence that fully electric vehicles will reliably meet their travel needs and help reduce anxiety linked with possible limitations in range,” said the EEA and its recent report.

The European Commission’s proposal on post-2021 CO2 targets for passenger cars and vans does not link the availability of charging infrastructure to the proposed CO2 targets, according to the ACEA.