Electric car charging point firm Zunder secures 225 million euro Santander loan

PARIS (Reuters) - Zunder, a company developing charging points for electric vehicles across Europe, has secured a 225 million euro ($242.9 million) loan from Spanish bank Santander, the companies said on Wednesday.

WHY IT MATTERS

Governments around the world are promoting electric vehicles to protect the environment and cut greenhouse emissions. However, drivers often complain about a lack of charging points on roads and highways.

KEY QUOTES

"This agreement with Santander represents a key step in our commitment to expanding electric vehicles in Europe and a boost to our growth strategy, both in the Spanish and European markets," Zunder CEO Daniel Perez said.

"We are very proud that an entity like Santander trusts our project, granting us the largest syndicated financing signed to date in the electric mobility sector," he added.

THE NUMBERS

European car industry body ACEA said in April that the European Union needed to install almost eight times more electric vehicle charging points per year than it did in 2023 to meet demand.

Zunder said its 225 million euro loan would help finance plans to install more than 3,000 new charging points in European countries such as France, Portugal and Italy.

($1 = 0.9262 euros)

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Jan Harvey)