The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf has ruled after four years of proceedings: Fastned’s application against the Autobahn GmbH des Bundes has been granted in full. The federal government is thereby obliged to initiate a tendering process for charging infrastructure at motorway service areas.
The ruling has been legally binding since 6 March 2026 and opens up fair competition for charging infrastructure at service areas in the future. The construction of new charging points will henceforth be governed by a Europe-wide tendering process.
We would be delighted to help your team take full advantage of the wealth of new opportunities with place2charge: As the construction of charging points has practically ground to a halt since the proceedings began, many service areas remain unoccupied.
With place2charge, you as a CPO can identify the most profitable service areas and lots in the tender, with the aim of establishing optimal charging locations along the motorways.
Staffed service areas are excellent locations for HPC charging stations: Due to their immediate proximity to motorways and the frequently high volume of traffic, also driven by food and beverage offerings, high demand meets a currently still limited supply.
With the help of place2charge, CPOs can quickly identify staffed service areas and analyse the profitability of potential charging points. Even before the tender, you can use place2charge to identify and evaluate all Tank & Rast as well as East German motorway service stations. Furthermore, we have already collected data on location preferences and the EV community’s preferences at service areas.
We are happy to make ourselves available as a partner with our many years of planning expertise, in order to prepare you optimally for the tender and increase your chances of winning the lots best suited to your needs.
We will be happy to keep you informed as soon as there is more detailed information on the process and start of the tender.
Further context on the Higher Regional Court ruling
Fastned had taken legal action at the beginning of 2023 against the previous practice of Tank & Rast GmbH and Ostdeutsche Autobahntankstellen, whereby the operator of charging stations at staffed motorway service areas was tied to the petrol station concessions of the respective service area. As a result, there was previously no competition for charging locations, and the construction of charging stations was always awarded to the already established petrol stations. The decision regarding the operator of the charging infrastructure at motorway service areas therefore lay entirely with Tank & Rast and Ostdeutsche Autobahntankstellen. Following the ruling of 06/03/2026, this practice is no longer lawful.
