France funds fast-charging sites with €100Mn

The French government is launching a 100-million-euro funding programme to build more charging stations for electric cars on the national road network. The scheme is for companies installing charging hubs with at least four fast-charging stations.

The decree was published in the Official Gazette (Journal Officiel) on Sunday and declares support will be given to companies that build fast chargers on France’s main transport axes. Each site must have four fast-charging stations, including at least two 150-kW stations.

The French government will subsidize the charge hubs at an average rate of 30 per cent; 40 per cent in some cases, according to French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari. Said circumstances apply to charging sites that want to go beyond the minimum of four fast-chargers. He also said the new funding could be combined with funding for 75% of the connection costs to the grid.

The minister also told AFP that the 100 million euro would be enough to support the installation of very fast-charging stations on all service areas of the national road network. “My goal is that by the end of 2022, they will all be equipped with very fast-charging stations, i.e. charging in about 20 minutes,” added Djebbari.

Vous voyez ces points ?

Aujourd’hui, ce sont des aires de service. D’ici 2 ans, ce seront des aires de service AVEC BORNES DE RECHARGE TRÈS RAPIDE. pic.twitter.com/26c8fUSrjt

— Jean-Baptiste Djebbari (@Djebbari_JB) February 14, 2021

According to data from the Ministry, France has 440 service stops on its national road network, of which about 140 are equipped with charging stations.

The Government had announced in October 2020 a target of 100,000 charging points open to the public by the end of 2021, reports Le Figaro. Large retail groups, major fuel vendors, have committed to installing thousands of them in their parking lots. Freeway companies have also signed the charter, however, denouncing a “lack of economic model” for operators of freeway charging stations as long as motorists do not use electricity for their long journeys.

This is about to change with the funding being an additional advantage. France had also extended the EV subsidy scheme and included used electric vehicles earlier this year. In January alone, plug-in passenger cars registered close to ten per cent market share as reported in our newsletter using data by Avère. Specifically, 6,471 new electric cars hit French roads in the first month of the new year, along 8,220 plug-in hybrids, and 1,121 all-electric commercial vehicles.

When announcing the latest funding for charging infrastructure, the government also pointed to an additional scheme to promote fast-charging stations for electric trucks in future.

lefigaro.fr, legifrance.gouv.fr, avere-france.org (PEV sales, all in French)