Within the European Union, the number of fully electric or hybrids has been rising continuously over the last 5 years. In 2019, the total number of electric and hybrid passenger vehicles in the European Union was around 1.2 million (source: EAFO.eu). The total number of light commercial electric vehicles was 95,000 in 2019. While the number of plug-in hybrid vehicles is stagnating due to a shutdown of supporting regulations in several countries of the European Union, the sales of battery electric vehicles are strongly increasing. An important prerequisite for using electric vehicles in urban commercial transport is charging infrastructure. Even if a lot of companies install own charging stations on their grounds, it is necessary to install public charging stations to enable quick re-charging during tour brakes and to foster e-mobility of commercial transport. The number of slow public charging spots (up to 22 kWh) in the European Union developed from 44,786 in 2015 to approximate 148,000 in 2019. However, for urban freight transport, fast charging spots (50 kWh, 150 kWh or even 300 kWh) are more relevant for rapid recharging during a tour break. This number has also increased from around 3,400 charging spots in 2015 to 17,056 in 2019 but is still at a lower level.

For the daily business of commercial urban transport, it is useful to know the location of the next public charging station. Even if fleet owners are only interested in buying electric vehicles, they must consider that the available infrastructure is adequate to their needs. An online infrastructure map is a useful tool for many purposes. For instance, companies can use these maps in the initial stages of EV planning, to get a picture of what options are available for charging in a public space, a specific area, or on a specific route, which may help to qualify the need for own charging. In other words, this different infrastructure maps can be valuable in order to determine to which degree companies can depend on the public charging network.

Many charging operators have their own dedicated network with apps related to their services or a website with maps of where to find appropriate charging. There exist several online available maps and apps for location of charging infrastructure for specific operators or across operators and borders. In the following sections an overview of some of the current available online infrastructure maps will be provided.