Canary Islands double registered charging points for electric cars

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As of Thursday, the Canary Islands have 3,160 registered charging points, 99 per cent more than on 9 July.
The province of Las Palmas has 1,958 charging stations, whilst the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has only 1,202.
Many of the charging points that have been installed cannot be connected because the electricity grid in some regions is too weak.

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Since the beginning of July, the number of charging points for electric cars registered in the Canary Islands has almost doubled. As of Thursday, 3,160 charging points had been reported. That is 99 per cent more than on 9 July.

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However, the distribution of these charging points for electric cars is anything but even. The province of Las Palmas – that is, the Canary Islands in the east of the archipelago – accounted for 1,958 charging points. In the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife – that is, on the western islands – there are 1,202. This means that just under two-thirds of the charging points are located on Gran Canaria and the other islands.

It is not possible to tell from the number of entries how many of these sites actually supply electricity. This is because, although some of the installations on the islands have been completed, they cannot be connected to the electricity grid at all.

Infrastructure for electric cars in the Canary Islands is in some cases inadequate

The gap between construction and regular operation is severely hampering the overall expansion of e-mobility on the islands. This is also one reason why, as recently as July, only one in twelve new cars registered in Tenerife was fully electric.

Last May, the industry association Fredica cited three reasons for the poor sales figures for purely electric cars in the Canary Islands: high prices, inadequate charging infrastructure and insufficient financial incentives.

The problem is that the electricity grid in many regions of the Canary Islands is considered too fragile to carry any more electricity. Although charging points have been installed in some of these municipalities – for example, to ensure they do not miss out on funding – they are currently unable to connect to the grid due to capacity constraints. As early as the start of 2025, the grid was deemed too weak to cope with the regular charging of a large number of new electric vehicles.

Nevertheless, the figure now reported is significant for some regions: on Fuerteventura, the Island Council commissioned four new charging stations in January, bringing the total number of active public charging points to just 16. Against this backdrop, the recent increase to 3,160 charging points is an important step for the Canary Islands.