Funding program simply explained: Publicly accessible charging infrastructure for electric vehicles

The expansion of the charging infrastructure is crucial for the success of electromobility and the implementation of the transport transition. The "Publicly accessible charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Bavaria 2.0" funding program therefore specifically supports the development of publicly accessible charging points in Bavaria. Bastian Ritter, project manager at the Bavarian Electric Mobility Competence Center, explains in the following interview how you can participate in the funding program. You will also gain valuable insights from Stefan Sulzenbacher, Team Leader Innovative Business Models at Regensburg-based energy and water supplier REWAG, who has already benefited from the funding program several times.

Förderprogramm einfach erklärt: Öffentlich zugängliche Ladeinfrastruktur für Elektrofahrzeuge
"Publicly accessible charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Bavaria 2.0" funding program
Antrag stellen. Das heißt, sowohl natürliche als auch juristische Personen. Das Programm ist insbesondere für Kommunen und Landkreise, aber auch Stadtwerke geeignet. Behörden bzw. Dienststellen der Bundesländer und des Bundes sind leider nicht förderfähig, da hier die Gelder vom Fördermittelgeber wieder an selbigen zurückfließen würden. Auch Gesellschaftsformen wie z. B.  GbRs wären nicht förderfähig. Grundsätzlich ist es so, dass nahezu jeder, auch eine Privatperson, die eine Ladeinfrastruktur vor ihrem kleinen Laden oder auf einem Privatgrundstück errichten möchte, einen Antrag stellen kann. Ganz wichtig ist aber, dass die öffentliche Zugänglichkeit gewährleistet ist. Ansonsten ist der zulässige Personenkreis erstmal sehr offen gehalten.

Was genau wird mit diesem Förderprogramm unterstützt? 

Bastian Ritter: Einmal die Ladesäule selbst und dann natürlich auch der Netzanschluss. Die Ladesäulen umfassen nicht nur die Hardware wie Stecker und Säule selbst, sondern auch die Leistungseinheit, das Lastmanagement, die Parkplatzmarkierung oder z. B. den Anfahrschutz der Ladesäule. Förderfähig sind ebenfalls die Inbetriebnahme und die Installation.  
Beim Netzanschluss sind dann Kosten wie der Baukostenzuschuss, aber auch z. B. Pufferspeicher oder ganze Transformatoren förderfähig, also ein recht breites Spektrum.

Gibt es Einschränkungen oder Begrenzungen, z. B. auf bestimmte Anlagentypen oder Netzanschlüsse? 

Bastian Ritter: Natürlich nimmt die Förderrichtlinie auch gewisse Einschränkungen vor. Die Elektromobilität ist mittlerweile schon weit fortgeschritten, so dass wir uns aktuell ganz klar in Richtung Massenmarkt bewegen. Aus diesem Grund sind wir mit dem Fördermittelgeber, dem Bayerischen Wirtschaftsministerium, zu der Erkenntnis gekommen, dass einzelne Ladepunkte, also der Klassiker der Anfänge, eine einzelne Ladesäule oder ein einzelner Ladepunkt vor dem Rathaus, den heutigen Bedarf nicht mehr decken können. Dementsprechend ist im Förderaufruf eine Mindestanzahl von Ladepunkten definiert, so dass an einem Ladeort zuletzt mindestens vier Normalladepunkte oder zwei Schnellladepunkte beantragt und letztendlich auch errichtet werden müssen. Auch eine Obergrenze wurde zuletzt im Aufruf definiert. Dies begründet sich durch die Tatsache, dass große Schnellladeparks heute bereits rentabel betrieben werden können und entsprechend nicht mehr gefördert werden müssen. Entsprechend konnten zuletzt maximal vier Schnellladepunkte pro Ladeort beantragt werden bzw. maximal 20 Normalladepunkte.

Gibt es weitere Bedingungen, die erfüllt sein müssen? 

Bastian Ritter: Ja, die gibt es. Diese stellen aber meist keine großen Hürden dar, die nicht erfüllt werden könnten. So fordert die Richtlinie hinsichtlich des Themas öffentliche Zugänglichkeit z.B., dass die Ladepunkte 24 Stunden öffentlich zugänglich sein müssen. Es ist ebenfalls zulässig, dass die Ladepunkte nur 12 Stunden pro Werktag zugänglich sind. Dies stellt dann allerdings die Untergrenze dar und hat eine Halbierung der Förderung zur Folge.  
Eine weitere Bedingung wäre zudem, dass die Ladepunkte mit 100 Prozent Ökostrom versorgt werden müssen. Aber auch das ist heute kein großes Hindernis mehr. So braucht es lediglich einen hundertprozentigen Ökostromtarifvertrag des Stromanbieters, der die Ökostromversorgung der Ladepunkte sicherstellt.
Zudem ist vielleicht noch erwähnenswert, dass die Mindestbetriebsdauer der über das Programm geförderten Ladepunkte sechs Jahre beträgt. Dies bedeutet konkret, dass mittels dieses Programms geförderte Ladepunkte mindestens sechs Jahre betrieben werden müssen und in dieser Zeit auch sämtliche Bedingungen und Vorgaben der Richtlinie, wie z.B. der Betrieb mit 100 Prozent Ökostrom, erfüllt werden müssen. Nach diesen sechs Jahren Mindestbetriebsdauer sind keinerlei Vorgaben mehr zu beachten und so können die Ladepunkte nach freiem Gusto weiterverwendet, abgebaut, weiterverkauft oder sonstiges werden.

Ist das auch alles im Förderaufruf beschrieben? 

Bastian Ritter: Sämtliche hier genannten Ausführungen sind in Richtlinie und Aufruf ausführlich beschrieben. Darüber hinaus bieten wir ebenfalls kurz vor Beginn der Antragsstellung oder wenn diese unmittelbar begonnen hat entsprechende Online-Sprechstunden bzw. Online-Informationsveranstaltungen an. In diesen führe ich die Personen unter anderem auch nochmal durch das Online-Antragsformular, so dass die Antragstellung danach wirklich für jeden kinderleicht durchzuführen sein sollte. Die Infoveranstaltungen werden in der Regel auch immer stark nachgefragt und wir bekommen auch immer sehr positive Rückmeldungen. Die Teilnahme an den Online-Events ist zudem bewusst sehr niederschwellig gestaltet, so dass keine vorherige Anmeldung notwendig ist, sondern sich direkt über Microsoft Teams eingewählt werden kann. Über bevorstehende Veranstaltungen informieren wir über unserer Homepage bzw. Über die Seite des Förderprogrammes und auch über unseren Newsletter. Interessenten schreiben mir am besten eine kurze Mail mit dem Aufnahmewunsch an: bastian.ritter(at)bayern-innovativ.de.

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Bastian, who is the "Publicly accessible charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Bavaria 2.0" funding program primarily intended for?

Bastian Ritter: In principle, anyone can submit an application. That means both natural and legal persons. The program is particularly suitable for municipalities and districts, but also for municipal utilities. Unfortunately, authorities or agencies of the federal states and the federal government are not eligible for funding, as the money would flow back to them from the funding provider. Company forms such as GbRs would also not be eligible. In principle, almost anyone, including a private individual, who wants to set up a charging infrastructure in front of their small store or on private property can submit an application. However, it is very important that public accessibility is guaranteed. Otherwise, the eligible group of people is initially kept very open.

What exactly does this funding program support?

Bastian Ritter: Firstly, the charging station itself and then, of course, the grid connection. The charging stations not only include the hardware such as the plug and the station itself, but also the power unit, load management, parking space marking or, for example, the collision protection of the charging station. Commissioning and installation are also eligible for funding.
In the case of the grid connection, costs such as the construction cost subsidy, but also, for example, buffer storage or entire transformers are eligible, i.e. a very broad spectrum.

Are there any restrictions or limitations, e.g. to certain types of systems or grid connections?

Bastian Ritter: Of course, the funding guidelines also impose certain restrictions. Electromobility is now well advanced, so we are clearly moving towards the mass market. For this reason, we have come to the conclusion with the funding provider, the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, that individual charging points, i.e. the classic approach of the early days, a single charging station or a single charging point in front of the town hall, can no longer meet today's demand. Accordingly, the call for funding defines a minimum number of charging points, meaning that at least four normal charging points or two fast charging points must be applied for and ultimately installed at a charging location. An upper limit was also recently defined in the call. This is due to the fact that large fast-charging parks can already be operated profitably today and therefore no longer need to be subsidized. Accordingly, a maximum of four fast charging points per charging location and a maximum of 20 normal charging points could be applied for.

Are there any other conditions that must be met?

Bastian Ritter: Yes, there are. However, these are not usually major hurdles that cannot be overcome. With regard to public accessibility, for example, the directive requires that the charging points must be accessible to the public 24 hours a day. It is also permissible for charging points to be accessible for only 12 hours per working day. However, this then represents the lower limit and results in the funding being halved.
A further condition would also be that the charging points must be supplied with 100 percent green electricity. But even that is no longer a major obstacle today. All that is needed is a 100% green electricity tariff contract from the electricity provider to ensure that the charging points are supplied with green electricity.
It is also perhaps worth mentioning that the minimum operating period for charging points funded under the program is six years. In concrete terms, this means that charging points funded under this program must be operated for at least six years and all conditions and requirements of the directive, such as operation with 100 percent green electricity, must be met during this time. After these six years of minimum operation, no further requirements need to be observed and the charging points can be reused, dismantled, resold or otherwise used as desired.

Is all this also described in the call for funding?

Bastian Ritter: Everything mentioned here is described in detail in the guidelines and call for proposals. In addition, we also offer corresponding online consultation hours or online information events shortly before the start of the application process or when it has already begun. In these sessions, I also guide people through the online application form again, so that the application process should then be child's play for everyone. The information events are usually very popular and we always get very positive feedback. Participation in the online events is also deliberately designed to be very low-threshold, so that no prior registration is necessary, but can be dialed in directly via Microsoft Teams. We provide information about upcoming events via our homepage or via the page of the support program and also via our newsletter. If you are interested, please send me a short email with your membership request: Contact by mail.

The Publicly accessible charging infrastructure in Bavaria 2.0 funding program benefits private individuals and companies as well as municipalities, districts and municipal utilities.

Bastian RitterProject Manager, Bavarian Electric Mobility Competence Center


What kind of subsidy can I expect?

Bastian Ritter: Under this funding program, the maximum funding rate is 40 percent or 50 percent if one or more additional criteria are met. In addition to the subsidy rate itself, there are also upper limits. These are 2,500 euros for a standard charging point. If the installation of a charging point costs 5,000 euros, then a subsidy rate of 50 percent would result in a subsidy of 2,500 euros, which in this case would also represent the maximum upper limit.
The upper limit is also higher for fast charging points, which are significantly more expensive to install. The subsidy rate of 40 or 50 percent remains identical. This means that the construction of fast-charging points can be subsidized with up to 10,000 or 25,000 euros, depending on the maximum possible charging capacity and possible internal buffer storage. Perhaps an important note at this point. The amounts stated always refer to a charging point, i.e. not to the charging station. Typically, a charging station usually has two charging points. This means that a corresponding fast charging station with two charging points can be subsidized with up to 50,000 euros. Up to 20,000 euros are also granted for the creation of the grid connection.

Stefan, REWAG has already taken advantage of this funding program several times. What exactly have you had funded?

Stefan Sulzenbacher: The funding was mainly for normal charging points, i.e. charging points up to 22 kW for public spaces.

Was the application process complicated? And how long did it take?

Stefan Sulzenbacher: The application for funding from the Free State is actually a lot of things, but not complicated. Completing the application is really easy and goes very quickly. The processing time of just a few weeks is also extremely quick. So from our point of view, it's perfect. Coordinating with the offices, authorities and so on in between is much more difficult than submitting the application.

How did the implementation of the funding measure proceed and when was the funding paid out?

Stefan Sulzenbacher: The implementation doesn't depend so much on the funding, but rather on the construction companies, the authorities and the permits that are required. As I said, this is actually much more complicated than the funding itself.
Once the construction site has been completed, i.e. the charging station is in operation, processing the funding application is relatively simple. It really does take just a few clicks and a short time. And the funds are also paid out very quickly. It was usually a few weeks after the application was submitted. Then the money is in the account.

How much funding did you receive?

Stefan Sulzenbacher: So far, we have received a total of around 770,000 euros in funding through various calls. This has contributed to the fact that we have made total investments of over 2 million euros in the area of normal charging points.

I can recommend the Publicly accessible charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Bavaria 2.0 funding program to everyone. The application process is super easy and there is always a contact person available to answer any questions.

Stefan SulzenbacherTeam Leader Innovative Business Models, REWAG Regensburger Energie- und Wasserversorgung AG & Co KG


How did you find the application process for the funding program?

Stefan Sulzenbacher: We have already taken advantage of several calls. This means that we are already familiar with most of the funding. But what I found particularly good was that there is the opportunity to make use of a regular consultation hour to have any questions clarified briefly and precisely. Apart from that, the funding call was really well described.
However, it is important to think about where I want to get funding and what I want to get funding for before applying for funding. And it doesn't hurt to already have a rough understanding of what elements you can expect. In other words, whether it's just a charging station, whether there needs to be a mains connection, whether there needs to be collision protection, what the markings should look like, etc. That doesn't hurt. That doesn't hurt, but that's the homework that has to be done beforehand, of course.
But in general, this funding program is one of the funding programs where I can really say that it can be recommended immediately without a single negative point. There are others who could take a leaf out of its book.

Bastian, these funding measures take the form of calls for proposals. How often do they take place and how do I find out when there is a new funding call?

Bastian Ritter: That's right. The program is a call-based funding program, i.e. applications can only be submitted during corresponding funding calls. As a rule, or rather in the past, we have handled one funding call per year. It is best to join our exclusive newsletter mailing list. This is because we use it to provide information about upcoming funding programs and other interesting topics relating to electromobility no more than once a month. With the help of the newsletter, you are always at the forefront when it comes to the latest information. As already mentioned: If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please send an e-mail to Contact by e-mail.

Do you then submit the application and by when do the documents have to be submitted at the latest?

Bastian Ritter: Exactly, the applications are submitted via our online application form and then land on our desks. It should also be noted that there is an application deadline set by us, which is usually between four and eight weeks. Applications can only be submitted via the online system during this period. Accordingly, the online application form is only available during this application period.

How many charging points have been approved so far?

Bastian Ritter: Stefan has already mentioned that REWAG alone has received 770,000 euros in funding so far. As of today, notifications with a total amount of around 35 million euros have been sent out to support and accelerate the expansion of publicly accessible charging infrastructure in Bavaria. The program has been running since 2017, i.e. for over seven years as of today. During this time, grant notifications have been sent out for over 7,000 public charging points in Bavaria.

In which administrative district have the most charging points been funded during this period?

Bastian Ritter: That is clearly Upper Bavaria. However, this is simply due to the fact that Upper Bavaria is by far the largest administrative district in Bavaria in terms of area and population. In terms of area and population, it can be concluded that the funding was distributed fairly evenly across the various administrative districts of Bavaria.

What message would you like to pass on to potential applicants?

Bastian Ritter: Ultimately, Stefan has already mentioned it briefly. We are very lucky in Bavaria that we are a very small, almost family-run project management organization and can provide interested parties and applicants with comprehensive support if required. This means that nobody really needs to have any major concerns about the application and processing. If there are any difficulties or questions when completing the online application, my colleagues and I are always on hand to help by phone or email. And so far, we have actually always managed to get applicants with no previous funding experience to their destination, so that the corresponding funding could be paid out in the end.

Stefan Sulzenbacher: I can only agree with that. There is no reason to be afraid of this funding call. You have to do a bit of homework beforehand, as I've already said, but at the end of the day, the application process is actually very simple and if there are any questions, there are contact persons, such as Bastian, who can answer them satisfactorily.


The interview was conducted by Barbara Groll, Marketing at Bayern Innovativ GmbH.

Listen to the full interview as a podcast:

Funding program for publicly accessible charging infrastructure in Bavaria

Would you like to find out more about the funding program "Publicly accessible charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Bavaria 2.0"? Then listen to this episode with Stefan Sulzenbacher, Team Leader Innovative Business Models at REWAG and Bastian Ritter, Technologist and Project Manager at Kompetenzstelle Elektromobilität Bayern.

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