European car manufacturers said on Monday that the European Union lacks charging stations for electric vehicles and that construction efforts are not keeping pace with vehicle sales.

Electric vehicle sales have grown three times faster than the establishment of charging stations since 2017, according to a report released on Monday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.

The association stated that the bloc will need to build eight times more charging stations every year until 2030.

In a developed economy like the EU countries seeking to eliminate fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the automotive industry is heavily betting on electric vehicles as an alternative to internal combustion engines.

General Secretary of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, Sigrid De Vries, said in a press release, "We need to adopt a comprehensive market for electric cars across all EU countries to achieve the European ambition regarding CO2 reduction targets, and this will not happen without widespread deployment of charging infrastructure throughout the region."

The European Commission estimates that Europe needs 3.5 million charging stations by 2030.

According to the association, achieving the 3.5 million station goal means establishing 8,000 stations weekly until that date, which represents three times the current rate of construction.

However, the association also argued that the figure of 3.5 million stations will not be sufficient. According to them, the bloc needs 8.8 million stations by 2030, which means building 22,000 stations weekly, eight times the current rate.