France is launching a plan to quintuple the number of charging stations for electric cars on its network of motorways and national roads by 2035, the Ministry of Transport said on Friday. This “strategy for electrification of the national road network”, announced in a press release, is one of the variations of the electrification plan for the French economy which Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he wanted to accelerate on April 11.
The Minister of Transport Philippe Tabarot spoke on Friday morning on Sud Radio about “the obstacle” to the purchase of electric cars posed by the lack of charging stations for traveling long distances. “With this plan on refills, we must be able to fill this deficit,” he explained. “Today we are at 4,500”, and it will be a question of “rising to more than 20,000. To 22,000 to be exact” in 2035 for light vehicles.
Dual lens
Added to this is the objective of 8,000 charging stations for heavy goods vehicles, a segment in which today the transition to electric is only just beginning, with 2% of the new vehicle market in France. These major axes, i.e. 20,000 km of motorways and national roads, represent 2% of the road network, but a third of the kilometers traveled. The terminals must be installed at “nearly 900 rest and service areas” for light vehicles. They have a power of 150 kW, which means recharging in 20 to 25 minutes.
For heavy goods vehicles, where the government targets “nearly 560 areas”, the busiest, the power varies between 100 kW (suitable for night-time charging), 400 kW (45 minutes, the time of a break for a driver) and more than 800 kW. “We need availability, so that the wait is not too long, with recharges that are rapid recharges,” emphasized Philippe Tabarot on Sud Radio.
The objective is twofold: to reduce CO2 emissions from road transport, and to make households and businesses less dependent on fuels made from imported oil. The cost of this plan, discussed with electricity players Enedis and EDF, was not immediately specified.
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