AFIR

Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 (AFIR), applicable since 13 April 2024, replaced Directive 2014/94/EU with directly binding deployment obligations on Member States, removing the discretion the old directive allowed.

What it requires

• Fleet-based charging: at least 1.3 kW of publicly accessible charging power per registered battery-electric light-duty vehicle, and 0.80 kW per plug-in hybrid (Article 3).
• Core TEN-T road network (light-duty): recharging pools at most 60 km apart, each at least 400 kW by end 2025, rising to 600 kW by end 2027.
• Heavy-duty vehicles: core-network pools phased to at least 1,400 kW (end 2025), 2,800 kW (end 2027) and 3,600 kW with 60 km spacing (end 2030).
• Hydrogen: refuelling stations (minimum 1 tonne/day, 700 bar) at most 200 km apart on the core TEN-T network by end 2030 (Article 19).
• Payment and transparency: operators must allow ad-hoc charging with no subscription; stations of 50 kW and above must accept card or contactless payment and display the ad-hoc price per kWh before the session (Article 5).

Why it matters for the EV market

AFIR converts charging rollout from a market gamble into a legal obligation, creating sustained demand for charge-point operators, grid-connection engineers, e-mobility roaming and payment specialists, and Member State infrastructure planners reporting against the national policy frameworks. Source: EUR-Lex.