France marks 100,000th charging point for electric cars
France now has 100,000 charging points for electric cars, giving it the second biggest electric network in Europe.
It was two years late - the original target was for 2021 - but on Friday France marked a milestone when the 100,000th electric car charging point opened.
"France now has the second largest network of charging points open to the public, behind the Netherlands (125,000) and ahead of Germany (85,000)," said Clément Molizon, the general delegate of the National Association for the Development of Electric Mobility. "We have heard a lot that we lack charging stations - this is not true! We are deploying more and more."
But although many parts of France now have good provision for electric cars, campaigners say more needs to be done to make the entire country accessible, as there remain zone blanches (dead zones) in certain parts of the country with few or no charging points.
READ ALSO What I learned while driving 1,777km through France in an electric car
The sale of electric cars in France is steadily increasing, thanks to government incentives and leasing schemes that allow people to trade in their petrol or diesel vehicle for an electric one - in 2022 13 percent of cars registered were electric, up from 10 percent in 2021.
There are now a total of 650,000 electric vehicles on the road in France - and one charging point for every 6.5 cars.
Many of these are at filling stations, and Pierre-Emmanuel Bredin of TotalEnergies says the group has been installing 10 new electric charging points per month.
"By 2025, TotalEnergies will have nearly 500 high-powered electric recharging sites: 200 stations on the national road network (motorways and ring roads) and 300 stations in towns and transit areas (airports, stations, tourist areas)."
However charging points remain concentrated in towns and cities or along autoroutes, meaning they remain an impractical choice for people living in rural France - especially the more sparsely populated areas such as Creuse or Corrèze.
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It was two years late - the original target was for 2021 - but on Friday France marked a milestone when the 100,000th electric car charging point opened.
"France now has the second largest network of charging points open to the public, behind the Netherlands (125,000) and ahead of Germany (85,000)," said Clément Molizon, the general delegate of the National Association for the Development of Electric Mobility. "We have heard a lot that we lack charging stations - this is not true! We are deploying more and more."
But although many parts of France now have good provision for electric cars, campaigners say more needs to be done to make the entire country accessible, as there remain zone blanches (dead zones) in certain parts of the country with few or no charging points.
READ ALSO What I learned while driving 1,777km through France in an electric car
The sale of electric cars in France is steadily increasing, thanks to government incentives and leasing schemes that allow people to trade in their petrol or diesel vehicle for an electric one - in 2022 13 percent of cars registered were electric, up from 10 percent in 2021.
There are now a total of 650,000 electric vehicles on the road in France - and one charging point for every 6.5 cars.
Many of these are at filling stations, and Pierre-Emmanuel Bredin of TotalEnergies says the group has been installing 10 new electric charging points per month.
"By 2025, TotalEnergies will have nearly 500 high-powered electric recharging sites: 200 stations on the national road network (motorways and ring roads) and 300 stations in towns and transit areas (airports, stations, tourist areas)."
However charging points remain concentrated in towns and cities or along autoroutes, meaning they remain an impractical choice for people living in rural France - especially the more sparsely populated areas such as Creuse or Corrèze.
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