Four major European charging companies jointly build Europe's largest charging network

Italy's Atlante, Germany's Ionity, the Netherlands' Fastned and France's Electra will form a new alliance called Spark, which aims to share the four companies' charging networks.

The four companies’ charging networks have a total of 11,000 charging points and 1,700 charging stations in 25 European countries. Starting in June, European customers will be able to use the alliance’s ultra-fast charging (up to 400 kW) facilities and pay for them through the Spark app of any member.

According to the Spark Alliance, its charging network is larger than that of its main rival, Tesla. However, Quentin Wilson, a British automotive journalist and founder of the electric car lobby group FairCharge, said Tesla still has an advantage, mainly due to a "simple but no-nonsense user interface."

Previously, the ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association) has been urging the acceleration of the layout of charging infrastructure to appease consumers who are anxious about the driving range and boost market demand for electric vehicles.
According to the European Commission, Europe will need to install 3.5 million charging points by 2030, almost three times the current installation rate. However, Electra CEO Aurelien de Meaux believes that the EU's goal is not a realistic roadmap and that quality is more important than quantity.
Spark Alliance members said that catching up with Tesla is not the top priority of the alliance, but its latest network layout may promote competition. Michiel Langezaal, CEO of Fastned, said: "It is important for Tesla to have another large network focused on quality and provide large-scale infrastructure for electric car drivers. This is indeed complementary."
de Meaux also revealed that the alliance may consider absorbing Tesla as a member. "They may qualify because they provide a fast and reliable charging experience, but I think this is more of a question to consider in the future."