EU commissioners frustrated by EV charging stops on Strasbourg trips

European Commission members are reportedly annoyed that their official electric vehicles cannot complete the 440-kilometre journey to Strasbourg without a charging stop in Luxembourg. The battery range of their official cars falls short of the one-way distance, forcing an inconvenient detour.

European Commission members have a new source of frustration: their official electric vehicles cannot make it from Brussels to Strasbourg in a single charge. According to Politico, commissioners are irritated that every trip to the European Parliament in Strasbourg requires a charging stop at a service station in Luxembourg.

The journey between the two cities spans approximately 440 kilometres — a distance that exceeds the real-world range of the battery-powered official cars currently assigned to EU commissioners. As a result, each parliamentary session in Strasbourg means an added delay mid-trip for a recharging break.

The situation carries a certain irony: the European Commission has been among the most vocal advocates for accelerating the shift to electric vehicles across the continent, pushing ambitious targets to phase out internal combustion engines in new cars by 2035. Yet the commissioners themselves are now experiencing firsthand one of the most commonly cited practical limitations of EV adoption — insufficient range for longer intercity journeys.

The regular Strasbourg sessions are already a point of contention in EU circles, with critics long questioning the cost and carbon footprint of shuttling the entire European Parliament operation between Brussels and Strasbourg each month. The added charging inconvenience adds a new dimension to that ongoing debate.