how 2022 will cross the line

This is not a surprise, and it is also now an absolute certainty: France will not achieve the objective, set for the fall of 2021, of deploying 100,000 public electric terminals by the end of 2022.

At the latest score, published at the end of November by Avere France in partnership with the Ministry of Ecological Transition, France had 49,914 public charging points, a figure which nevertheless reflects an increase of 52% since the start of the year. We are certainly far from the values ​​trumpeted last year, but the fact is that a dynamic is launched today.

This was illustrated this week, with the announcement by the public authorities of a strengthening of the Advenir program intended to finance the deployment of terminals, both in condominiums and in car parks and on the road.

In addition to the 100 million euros initially planned for the period 2020-2023, an amount deemed insufficient given the development prospects of the electric car market, an additional budget of 200 million euros was therefore granted to the device, to which are added calls for projects amounting to 300 million for the installation of ultra-fast terminals (including 50 million for industrial vehicles).

Worried builders

The now famous ” whatever the cost Would therefore also apply to electrified mobility. Message sent to car manufacturers, to whom the European authorities are asking to completely reinvent themselves in the perspective of the end of heat engines, scheduled for 2035, but who in return criticize the public authorities for not taking the measure of the delay in terms of density of the charging network.

Last Monday, the Association of European Auto Manufacturers (ACEA) once again sounded the alarm by posing the problem as follows: ” we may soon reach a point where power sales growth would stagnate if consumers conclude that there are not enough charging points. »

And to add that ” the automotive industry needs ambitious infrastructure targets that are fully in line with the proposed CO2 targets. »

In France, accelerated charging stations, with a power of between 22 and 50 kW, represent 44% of the fleet, while ultra-fast ones, offering more than 50 kW, only constitute 4% of the supply. However, it is these high-speed terminals – or rather their insufficient number – that constitute the crux of the problem.

Because on the side of the terminals for individuals, in business or in joint ownership, the winds are favorable and the prospects are most favorable.

« We have 13 account managers, and none of them do prospecting. We manage incoming calls », Congratulates Luc Xiong, for example, in charge of the company Isiohm, a company whose promise is simple: to install an operational terminal for you in 15 days.

« We had six-figure sales last year, and that is expected to increase sixfold this year. The progress is dazzling, and our problem is above all to find additional resources. From installers to design offices, the sector is hiring! », He assures Caradisiac.

Fast charging, the keystone

However, even if electric cars only travel an average of 44 km per day, and even if 9 out of 10 motorists prefer home charging (figures from an Enedis study published at the start of the year), the buyer of ‘a “zero emission” model wants to be able to count on a charging network worthy of the name and fully operational “just in case”.

All the more so if it is a motorist who is only moderately convinced by electric mobility, to which he only decides to come because he feels forced in some way.

Tesla has understood this well, which reserves for its customers a network of Superchargers both dense – 7,300 charging points distributed in more than 700 stations in Europe – and well maintained.

This is one of its best selling points and goes a long way towards explaining the lead it has taken over the competition. However, the American manufacturer is preparing to open this network to other brands. This cringes its current customers, but will have the advantage of “boosting” electrified mobility on a large scale.

Beyond that, the good news is that things are looking rather favorable for electric mobility in France for the months and years to come, with on the one hand the transformation of historical energy players, and on the other hand, the arrival of new entrants on the market.

300 km of autonomy in 15 minutes

Last Tuesday, the Dutch Fastned inaugurated its first four motorway stations, to which five more will be added in the coming weeks. All will be located on the Paris-Dijon and Dijon-Lyon axes, and in the direction of Switzerland.

« The ultimate goal is to have 1,000 stations in Europe, and France is at the heart of our project. », Proclaims Sara Pasquier, responsible for the development of Fastned for France, interviewed by Caradisiac. ” We will be able to accommodate hundreds of vehicles every day in each of our stations. »The launch prices are rather aggressive, with a kWh billed at 0.59 € without subscription (or 0.45 € / kWh with a subscription of 11.99 € per month).

The company is thus positioned on the hundred or so calls for tenders currently launched to equip service areas on concession motorways, but it is also working on other projects in peri-urban areas around Paris, Bordeaux or Marseille.

And if the Fastned terminals, which make it possible to recover up to 300 km of autonomy in 15 minutes, take place on stations already held by oil tankers, the brand would also like to eventually operate its own service stations, or even install its bollards on rest areas. ” We want our stations to ourselves », Specifies Sara Pasquier.

Ionity full throttle!

A few days earlier, the Ionity consortium, pumped up following the injection of 500 million euros by the American investment fund BlackRock, supplemented by an endowment of 200 million by its manufacturer-shareholders (Audi-Porsche for the VW group, BMW, Ford, Hyundai-Kia, Mercedes), unveiled great ambitions for 2025.

Ionity is targeting a thousand ultra-fast stations across Europe, compared to 400 today, which would allow it to go from 1,500 charging points to… 7,000! In France, Ionity currently has 86 stations, and 15 are under construction. The goal is to double these figures by 2025.

Another company resolutely committed to the deployment of terminals, TotalEnergies has at the end of 2021 some 60 motorway stations equipped with high-power charging stations (50 to 175 kW). This figure should increase to 200 by 2023, so as to offer a “high speed” station every 150 kilometers.

On the side of the concessionaire companies, we display the same voluntarism. Asked by Caradisiac, Vinci Autoroutes specifies that there are currently 308 charging points spread over 94 service areas (i.e. half of those making up its network), and wants to equip 100% of its service areas with fast charging stations. by 2023.

Too many electric cars?

As these few examples show, all the major players in mobility and transport are now focused on the challenges of long-distance mobility, which poses its share of difficulties in terms of cost and complexity of the work, starting with everything. which relates to the connection of electricity networks.

Therefore, and to echo the concerns expressed a few lines above by car manufacturers, the deployment of high-power charging may be a little less spectacular than the increase in sales of electric cars.

And so, despite the considerable efforts made by the major players in the sector, there will probably be some waiting times for motorists who will go on vacation on electric next summer. As paradoxical as it sounds, it is ultimately quite good news because it means that the transition is indeed taking place.

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