Sweden’s electric car charging stations stand empty as EV boom fails to materialise
Public charging stations for electric vehicles in Sweden are being used just 8 percent of the time, leaving many newly built fast-charging points idle, according to data obtained by public broadcaster SVT from the Swedish Energy Agency.
The figures, covering weeks 3–6 of this year, show that on average, 92 percent of charging time goes unused at the majority of the country’s public fast-charging stations that report real-time occupancy. Industry standards typically assume at least 20 percent usage to justify further expansion.
Fuel retailers like Circle K had anticipated a surge in EV adoption when investing heavily in charging infrastructure. “We expected electric car sales to rise sharply,” said Jenni Alterling, Circle K’s charging product manager. “Projections pointed to 2025 as the tipping point, when EVs would match or undercut the purchase price of petrol and diesel cars.”
Instead, Sweden’s share of fully electric new car sales has stagnated at around 36 percent for three years—far behind Denmark (68 percent) and Norway (96 percent). Alterling noted that Sweden had expected 660,000 EVs on its roads by 2025; the actual figure is 430,000, a shortfall of nearly a third.
The slowdown follows the government’s decision to scrap a general EV purchase subsidy while cutting fuel taxes and reducing biofuel blending requirements, making petrol and diesel cheaper. Energy Minister Ebba Busch (Christian Democrats) acknowledged the mismatch between charging infrastructure and demand as “a major challenge,” though she added that some urban stations, particularly in the Stockholm area, are meeting expected usage levels.
Busch expressed hope that lower inflation and economic growth would eventually boost EV sales, telling SVT that “previously, the problem was the opposite—people bought EVs faster than we could install charging points.”
The data reflects only stations that report real-time usage, representing the majority of Sweden’s public fast-charging network.