Bonner City Parkraum GmbH (BCP) alone, a subsidiary of the municipal utility company, currently provides seven parking garages together with municipal shops. With the Unigarage, the Rabinstraße multi-storey car park and the railway station car park, three more are to open this year. "The three new parking garages will be equipped with charging points for electric cars," announced Veronika John, deputy press spokeswoman of Stadtwerke. This will create ten charging points in the Unigarage, four in Rabinstraße and three in the station car park. Currently the Stadtwerke are operating 75 public charging points in Bonn.

In the parking garages of BCP, eight charging points can currently be used. There are four so-called "wallboxes" in the Marktgarage on the third basement level. Two charging points each can be used in the Stadthaus car park and in the Beethoven underground car park. Both charging stations are located near the exits. So far the station supply has been able to meet the demand, as John says. "The utilization of the charging stations in BCP's parking garages is roughly equivalent to the average utilization of our entire public charging infrastructure."

Professor Roman Suthold of the ADAC is concerned about this trend. "In the city, charging points are easily accessible. In rural areas, on the other hand, we are finding that there is little or no infrastructure," says the head of the Department of Transport and Environment. "The fact that market dynamics are increasing in this way means that the situation will worsen in the coming months". At the moment, network coverage in the city is still available, but at peak times attractive locations are continuously occupied, reports Suthold. "I am observing that, too." For example, car drivers have to expect long waiting times at charging stations, especially on Saturdays, according to the mobility expert. "The car parks should offer more charging points, if we look at France, they are already further along than us."

Whether more loading points will come to Bonn is planned "flexibly and at short notice", says John. Suthold, however, sees a cost trap in the "regional solutions", because they are not transparent. "There are so many different providers nationwide and a price comparison is often not possible. With the gasoline price we know what we have to pay, but often not with e-charging stations. We are therefore calling for a nationwide pricing policy based on kilowatt hours.

The prices by the Stadtwerke are also based on kilowatt hours, but with an additional flat rate. "Charging at the charging stations in BCP's multi-storey car parks costs 0.59 euros starting flat rate and 0.39 euros per charged kilowatt hour of energy, just like at our other public charging stations," explains John.

According to Suthold, the current solutions are a costly odyssey for long-distance drivers, as different apps and payment systems exist in different regions. "80 percent of the charging takes place at home, but these isolated solutions become a problem for long-distance drivers. Those who don't know the area are usually stuck because they don't know the regional providers and can't see exactly where the next charging station is," the expert explains. The Bonn public utility company works with the "TankE-Network-App", which displays charging points in the Rhineland. But: "In Hamburg, on the other hand, they don't know the app", says Suthold.

One solution here could be the expansion of fast charging points on motorways. According to the electromobility expert, this is still the smallest problem. "If the German car manufacturers are serious and only focus on electromobility, the capacities are far from sufficient. The power grid would then have to be fundamentally adapted," says the Cologne-based expert.

In Bonn, the municipal utilities are pushing ahead with the expansion of mobility. Private companies are more reticent in this respect. Research by the GA showed that only one in six public parking garages offers a charging station. The multi-storey car park on the Museum Mile, for example, offers its users free recharging of their e-cars until mid-February. After that, however, the two pillars are to be rented out, according to a contact at B+B Parkhaus GmbH. "But there will be more charging points added." The situation looks worse in Beuel and Bad Godesberg, however. In the car park at Konrad-Adenauer-Platz and also in the Contipark underground car park in Brückenforum there are no e-charging stations. According to an employee, no charging points are planned in the latter, even in the long term. "I haven't heard of anything." There is enough space in the garage and there is also demand. "E-cars are parked here more often, it would be worth it," she says.

There are no charging points in Bad Godesberg in the parking garages near the Kinopolis or under the City Terraces. Even in the centrally located Stiftsgarage, mobility has not yet taken hold.

(Original text: Niklas Schröder; Translation: Mareike Graepel)