Pricing blows hot and cold on public charging stations. In terms of increases – the most extensive – the Parisian network Belib’ distinguished itself by announcing, as of January 2, a strong revaluation. Coupled with a change in the method of calculation (the price will no longer be exclusively based on the charging time and may also include the amount of energy consumed), this revision makes the increase difficult to read a priori. Users, however, are beginning to take the measure. Some already claim to have seen a near doubling of the bill.
To simplify, recharging 40 kilowatts (kW), enough to travel some 250 kilometers (km) on average, will cost between 13 and 40 euros, depending on whether or not you subscribe to Belib’ and whether you is connected to a slow or fast terminal. In the most unfavorable configuration, the price paid to travel 100 km with an electric vehicle appears here to be slightly higher than that of a medium-sized thermal car.
Managed by TotalEnergies, the Belib’ network, which has a virtual monopoly in the capital, has some 2,300 charging points. For its part, the Ouest Charge network, which covers part of Brittany and Pays de la Loire, will more than double the price of kWh (from 0.22 to 0.49 euros), from January 20.
Opaque and unstable universe
Conversely, some operators have decided to lower their prices, such as Allego, which now offers charges of between 0.60 euro and 0.69 euro per kWh, after having exploded its prices (up to 0.98 euro kWh), in the fall of 2022. Many are making permanent adjustments, such as the Tesla Superchargers, open to the public (currently 0.60 euro for owners of a model of the brand, 0.70 euro for the others, on condition of taking out a monthly subscription of 12.99 euros).
Others, finally, consider that they should not change anything. This is the case of the Ionity network (founded by Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW, Ford and the South Korean brands), present on the highways. The prices of its Dutch competitor Fastned also remain stable, while they fluctuate strongly in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
The decision of a growing number of distributors to integrate a price variation, according to off-peak hours and peak hours, contributes to introducing even more complexity into the pricing maquis of charging stations, a universe that is both opaque and unstable. .
Deterrent effect for the electric car
What concern the promoters of the electric car, who are wondering about the dissuasive effect that the announced increase in the cost of public charging could exert, while oil prices are rather oriented downwards. “A sharp rise in kilowatt hours would have little effect on the charging market, which is hardly sensitive to the price effect, but it could have negative consequences on vehicle purchase intentions”warns Pierre Courgeon, director of Fastned France.
“Electricity remains the cheapest energy for a car, despite the increase in its price”, considers however Lucie Mattera, secretary general of ChargeUp, an organization which brings together charging infrastructures in Europe. The tariff shield deployed in France, if it reduces the attractiveness of public networks, helps to cushion the effects of kilowatt inflation. According to the scale currently applied to individuals, it can be estimated that transferring 40 kW to their “watture” from their home is equivalent, depending on the time slot and the type of subscription, to an expense of between 4 euros and 8 euros.
Finally, for “electromobilists”, there remains the solution of connecting to a free charging station. Of the approximately 78,000 public terminals installed in France, there are 6,233, most often installed by local authorities. It is not certain that their numbers will increase in the coming months.