Recharge your car on a highway will cost you 4 times more expensive than at home

Except that if it is acceptable to leave your car connected overnight to refuel, drivers are reluctant to wait more than fifteen minutes to reach their holiday destination.

Electric cars: the situation changes on the highway !

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Electric cars: the situation changes on the highway !

Several service stations now mention the price per kWh intended for recharging electric vehicles. No obligation, no standard has yet been issued for the moment, although the areas have the obligation to be equipped with charging stations.

Next to the traditional totem displaying fuel prices, We will have to get used to a new device: the totem of the prices of the electric charging. On the service area of ​​Achères-la-Forêt, located on the A6 (77), the motorist now knows what to expect at a glance: that he chooses a quick load at 22 kW Or an ultra-fast at 300 kW, the KWH will always be billed at 55 euro cents.

Brand new, the terminals only ask to be used, henceforth : “As of June 30, 2023, 62 highway stations in France will be in the image of Engie, they will offer ultra-fast charging stations. In October, they will be 67“Indicates the ENGIE electricity supplier. The latter intends to exploit “12,000 charging points accessible to the public by 2025“, on the whole of France.

Everyone has their invoice

If the Seine-et-Marne service station has only a single load rate, This is not the case, however, in all ENGIE motorway establishments. So, “Today we offer recharges up to 300 kW at 0.57 €/kWh on most of our stations: at the dealerships SANEF, APRR and Vinci“, Continues the energy company, who also specifies that on the highway areas operated by Esso, the price is € 0.69 per kWh (the kWh on the ionity terminals begins at € 0.70). Engie chose invoicing per kilowatt per hour, but it does not fall under any constraints. Operators free to invoice time spent on the terminal, or even to the load session.

On the highways conceded, compulsory terminals !

All the service areas of the conceded highways are now supposed to offer at least one charging station for electric vehicles. This is a legal obligation imposed on highway concession companies. According to ASFA data, the association that brings together motorways concession companies, it is actually 80 % of the areas that were equipped on December 31, 2022. Thus, the motorway network is already with 1553 charging points, and 78% of them deliver a power greater than 150 kW.

In terms of displaying the prices charged, however, no regulation to date : “We still notice that some display the prices, like Lidl, for example. In any case, it would be logical that the prices of the recharge are available by the side of the road, for a healthy understanding of the public. And on the price-fuels site.gouv.fr too, by the way“, Note Francis Pusse, president of the branch of retailers in fuel and new energies of mobilemen.

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Recharge your car on a highway will cost you 4 times more expensive than in your home

Almost one in five car sold in Europe on the first nine months of 2021 was electric, according to data from the European Electric Car Report.

This electrification of the park will require the installation of many charging stations, and in particular on motorways, since for short distances, users recharge their vehicle mainly at home. The government has thus set itself the ambition to reach 100.000 recharging points by the end of 2021.

Except that if it is acceptable to leave your car connected overnight to refuel, drivers are reluctant to wait more than fifteen minutes to reach their holiday destination.

For the moment, only a minority of the terminals are now fast and ultra-fast, reports factory new. Of the 49.000 recharging points scattered in the territory, 52% deliver a power less than 22 kW, 44% a power between 22 and 50 kW and only 4% a power greater than 50 kW.

If there is an obligation for highway dealers to install charging stations, nothing is said on their power. However, according to totalnergies, the installation of three or four fast terminals costs between 500.000 and 700.000 euros to the operator, against 1.500 to 2.000 euros for conventional terminals on public roads.

Totalnergies, however, undertook to equip its motorway areas and the national network with 200 stations of 175 kW, for a vehicle recharge in 20 to 25 minutes. An investment of 200 million euros “At very high risk” According to Philippe Callejon, mobility director and new energies of Totalnergies, because “Without warranty on future feedback”.

Heads

It is not at all easy to see long queues aligned with these charging stations. On the one hand, the autonomy of electric cars continues to progress. A Tesla Model 3 thus promises 547 km of autonomy, enough to cover a Paris-Lyon.

On the other hand, the charging rate of these terminals promises to be rather dissuasive: “The cost of a fast load is four times higher than that of a slow charge at home”, warns Philippe Callejon. While it takes between 5 and 15 euros in electricity to refuel at home, the price of an ionity charging on the highway amounts to 39.90 euros. Or almost the price of a full for a diesel car!

Suddenly, Total himself recommends anticipating his trip to avoid these high costs, or to identify free terminals near the journey.

Result: in 2018, the load terminals were only used 12% of the time on average. In addition, 58% of French people deplore terminals too often broken down, particularly in roads, and 86% encountered a defect during the charge in the last six months.

In 2020, Izivia, the EDF subsidiary specializing in electric mobility, had to close 189 of its 217 quick charging stations on highways of the Cori-Door network due to “Technical incidents”.

So despite the generous grants granted to operators to build terminals, it is not certain that users rush. This will only one example of more public money wasted.

Recharge your electric car on a highway will soon cost less

The Ionity subscription is back from June 6, with an even more attractive offer than before. What reduce the cost of rapid charging of electric cars on the highway.

Fast load in electric car, although essential for long trips, perhaps very expensive. This is no secret since we have already approached it, but it must have been in mind so as not to fall from the clouds after the acquisition of the famous trendy car.

Until now, there was only one ionity offer: direct payment at 0.69 euros per kilowatt hour, that is, more or less 14 euros for 100 kilometers. Which gives a little more than a thermal car. But the Ionity Passport subscription is back in France from June 6, with a finally softer rate.

Ionity relaunches in the fast charge race

So far, Ionity has not been really part of the cheap charging networks. Indeed, with a price of 0.69 euros/kWh, the addition could be very salty at a consortium terminal. For comparison, the other major market players display the following prices on June 1, 2023:

• Electra – € 0.49/kWh
• Fastned – 0.59 €/kWh
• Ionity – € 0.69/kWh
• Tesla – € 0.51/kWh (€ 0.37/kWh for Tesla or via the monthly subscription)
• Totalnergies – € 0.62/kWh

To put it more simply, All large fast load networks are cheaper than Ionity. A subscription named Ionity Passport existed before, but it has disappeared from radars since the start of the year.

Never mind, this famous subscription is back, as can be read in a press release, at a price of 11.99 euros per month. Against this sum, subscribers will benefit from a discount of 0.20 euros per kilowatt hour consumed. Thus, with a price of 0.49 euros/kWh, loading on the Ionity network while being subscribed comes 10 euros for 100 kilometers of highway.

The end of one year’s commitment: a necessary change

The concern raised by almost all electromobilists concerning the Ionity Passport offer was its one-year commitment. Indeed, when it was available, it was necessary to pay 17.99 euros per month for a year, a total of 215.88 euros to subscribe to Ionity Passport and thus benefit from preferential rates.

Today, The new Ionity Passport offer has no annual commitment, but only monthly. Which allows you to enjoy an attractive price for only a month, against 11.99 euros. This formula is already applied by another medium actor: Tesla.

This strategy is rather welcome from Ionity, which could conquer many customers this summer, anxious to take charge at a lower cost on the holiday road. So that the offer is profitable financially, You have to load at least 60 kWh in the month, or 300 kilometers of approximately.

You can subscribe to the new Ionity Passport offer from June 6, from the Ionity application, and cancel your subscription simply in the same way when you no longer use it.

Recall that Ionity is the largest European charging network … Behind Tesla. Ionity terminals have the advantage of being quasi-exclusivity on service areas on the highway, unlike those of Tesla.

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