Affordable and reliable charging: Denmark’s two “unfinished tasks”

Over the past two years, Denmark has witnessed a true boom in electromobility.

Max Brandt, CEO and co-founder of Flexecharge, tells Mobility Portal that “more than 60% of new car registrations are electric.”

He adds: “Buying an electric vehicle (EV) has become the norm now, just like in Norway.”

The growth of the zero-emissions fleet raises the bar for charge point operators (CPOs).

Today, they must ensure attractive locations, add complementary services — such as toilets and cafés — and make the charging experience smooth and user-friendly.

Still, a dual challenge remains: the real priorities are lowering the cost per kWh and ensuring service availability.

“These remain the two major unfinished tasks,” Brandt acknowledges.

According to the executive, public charging is still “too expensive” compared to refuelling with petrol or diesel.

He warns: “This major technological shift can only be consolidated if it becomes cheaper than the previous one — combustion engines. It’s achievable, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Affordability is not an isolated issue. Brandt stresses that it’s a widespread problem across Europe, prompting Flexecharge and other CPOs to explore new revenue streams.

Among these, he highlights the sale of energy flexibility — in other words, monetising smart demand management and grid response.

This approach — aligning charging with price signals, relieving demand peaks, and providing ancillary services — can translate into savings on the final tariff.

The goal: to reduce charging costs for drivers without compromising infrastructure reliability.

Incentives and predictability: The recipe for accelerating adoption

In the Nordic countries — and Denmark is no exception — the main driver of EV uptake has been tax relief.

Owning an EV there has always been more expensive than in markets like Germany, so the state compensated with substantial exemptions for battery-powered vehicles.

“There was a time when a Porsche Taycan cost the same as a combustion Volkswagen Passat,” the CEO recalls.

That “levelling” of prices illustrates the strength of the incentive and helps explain the acceleration of electromobility in recent years.

However, tax benefits are now being gradually phased out, shifting pressure onto manufacturers, who must offer more competitive pricing.

Moreover, where the Nordic countries truly stand out is in regulatory predictability.

Tax changes are announced well in advance, allowing households and businesses to plan their purchases accordingly.

In contrast, in other European markets — such as Germany — support programmes appear and disappear, are expanded and then cut back, creating uncertainty in the sector.

The Nordic model offers a twofold lesson: strong initial incentives to lower entry barriers, followed by a gradual and well-communicated phase-out that forces the ecosystem to become more efficient.

“Subsidies are useful at the beginning, but the ultimate goal must be for electric mobility to be cheaper than internal combustion. Once we reach that point, we won’t need to debate these issues any longer,” he concludes.

Denmark in figures

Denmark currently has 452,876 BEVs and 131,503 PHEVs, for a total of 584,379 plug-in vehicles. Within this group, BEVs account for 77.5% and PHEVs for 22.5%.

Compared to 2024, when there were 356,452 BEVs and 129,979 PHEVs, the fully electric segment grew by 96,424 units (+27.1%), while plug-in hybrids added 1,524 units (+1.2%).

Altogether, the plug-in fleet expanded by 97,948 vehicles, representing a +20.1% year-on-year increase.

The contrast with alternative fossil-fuel technologies is striking: there are only 176 CNG and 15 LPG vehicles registered.

Taken together with the total number of plug-in units and these two technologies, CNG + LPG make up just 0.03%.

In terms of scale, there are currently 2,573 BEVs for every CNG vehicle and 8,767 PHEVs for each LPG vehicle.

Regarding the infrastructure, Denmark has a total of 47,183 charging points, of which 39,526 are alternating current (AC) and 7,657 are direct current (DC).

In terms of composition, AC accounts for 83.8% of the total, while DC represents 16.2%.

Over the past year, 11,314 new charging points were added (+31.6% year-on-year): 9,094 AC points (up from 30,432 in 2024, +29.9%) and 2,220 DC points (up from 5,437, +40.8%).

With this progress, the share of rapid charging rose from 15.2% to 16.2% (+1.0 percentage point), indicating a strengthening of the high-power component within the network.

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