Guide · Charging
Charging stations in Switzerland: how many there are and where they stand
The Swiss Federal Office of Energy counts, as the average of August 2026, 8’827 locations with public charging stations, 18’874 charging stations and 19’620 charging plugs in Switzerland. These are three different numbers for the same infrastructure. Below: what each one counts, how the cantons differ and what the numbers do not say.
Three numbers for the same infrastructure
A location is an address with public charging stations, such as a car park or a motorway service area. A charging station is the device, a plug the individual connection. Reports often speak of «charging posts» and mean one of the three levels. Before comparing two numbers, check which one is meant.
The Federal Office collects the data daily from the real-time data of ich-tanke-strom.ch and averages it by month. A monthly value is therefore an average over the days and not a reading on the last day of the month. Compared with the average for August 2025 there are 919 more locations and 1’808 more charging stations.
The cantons compared
Zurich counts 2’784 charging stations, ahead of Bern with 1’970 and Vaud with 1’639. By locations, Bern leads with 1’100 against 912 in Zurich. Bern has many small locations, Zurich fewer and larger ones: on average Zurich has 3,1 charging stations at one location, Bern 1,8.
| Canton | Locations | Charging stations | Stations per location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zurich | 912 | 2’784 | 3,1 |
| Bern | 1’100 | 1’970 | 1,8 |
| Vaud | 795 | 1’639 | 2,1 |
| Aargau | 654 | 1’351 | 2,1 |
| St. Gallen | 691 | 1’311 | 1,9 |
| Valais | 616 | 1’284 | 2,1 |
Geneva stands out: 804 charging stations at 222 locations, on average 3,6 per location and the highest value of all cantons. At the other end are Zug and Obwalden with 1,4 each. The fewest charging stations are in Appenzell Innerrhoden with 35 at 21 locations and Appenzell Ausserrhoden with 79 at 47.
The ranking by absolute numbers mainly says which canton is large. There is no figure per inhabitant here because we do not keep population figures.
What the numbers mean on the road
- Locations count for route planning. On a journey what matters is how often you can stop. Many charging stations at a single location help you only there.
- Charging stations count at your destination. The more charging stations a location has, the more cars can charge there at the same time.
- Power is in none of these numbers. Whether a charging station charges slowly or fast is shown by the split into power classes in the Charging tab.
What a year of public charging costs compared with home is worked out in the article EV without a wallbox. What a fast charge costs is in the article Electric car fast charging costs.
What the numbers do not say
- Whether a charging station is free or working. The monthly series counts charging stations and says nothing about their condition. Our own measurement of occupancy is in the Charging tab.
- Where no charging station stands. What is counted is what is in the register. A valley without a charging station shows up as a gap in no canton figure.
- Private charging. Wallboxes at home and at work are not included unless they are open to the public.
- A perfectly clean total. The 26 canton figures add up to 8’825 locations and 18’877 charging stations, while Switzerland is reported with 8’827 and 18’874. The difference is small, and the data give no explanation for it.
Sources: Swiss Federal Office of Energy, «Key figures on public charging infrastructure for electric mobility» (title of the German data package: «Kennzahlen öffentliche Ladeinfrastruktur Elektromobilität»), open monthly series from ich-tanke-strom.ch, licence «free use, attribution required».
Transparency: all numbers are monthly averages from the Federal Office series, analysed by us. Stations per location are charging stations divided by locations, rounded to one decimal. We do not calculate the condition of charging stations or a density per inhabitant here.
