He wanted to be reassuring. Invited on France info this Friday morning, the Minister in charge of Transport, Clément Beaune, assured that the government was not going to “prohibit people from recharging their electric vehicle”.
“We are not going to deactivate the electric charging stations,” he assured. “We want to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles, (…) so we must not discourage their use”, detailed the minister, “it would be contradictory” since this type of vehicle represents “one of the solutions to the energy transition “.
A simple recommendation
On Wednesday, the manager of the electricity transmission network (RTE) had put forward the hypothesis of cutting off access to free access terminals and to those located in the car parks of office buildings between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. He had also advised users to “shift” the moments of recharging, in the context of the current energy crisis.
But, according to Clément Beaune, this is only a “recommendation”. “If we can, for those who have flexibility, recharge at a time other than peak hours, in the morning after 8 a.m. and in the evening between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.,” said the minister. “If you can plug in your vehicle sooner after 8 p.m., it’s better,” he insisted, calling this gesture “useful”. But “when you have a constrained use, you have to continue” to recharge your vehicle, even during peak hours.
Regarding the scheduled end of the rebate at the pump, extended until December 31, the minister estimated that “if things increase in a reasonable way, there will be no more support system”, adding that ” things will be clarified on Monday ”. Clément Beaune was also asked about the price of tolls for next year. “In February, the tolls change. There is an automatic formula that takes inflation into account. (…) If we applied things automatically, we would be on very high increases of around 7 or 8%”, he explained, judging these increases “unsustainable”.
Retailleau “stunned”
While the Minister of Transport admits that toll prices will “undoubtedly” increase, he adds that “discussions are underway” to mitigate these increases, even if he advocates the need for investment in the roads. “The use of the thermal car will cost more. We cannot neutralize everything, ”also indicated Clément Beaune.
The president of senators LR Bruno Retailleau said he was “stunned by the indecency of motorway companies which are demanding an 8% increase in tolls” in 2023. “In the midst of a crisis of purchasing power for the French already strangled by the price of gasoline (…) this demand is scandalous,” said Retailleau in a press release.