A new aid has just been put in place by the government, in order to help small independent service stations to equip themselves with charging stations. A measure that should accelerate the development of the network throughout the territory.
In May 2020, Emmanuel Macron announced a great promise: France will have no less than 100,000 public charging stations by the end of 2021. An ambitious objective, which will not have been achieved on the scheduled date, and which moreover still has not been achieved. Indeed, and as revealed by theFrancethe territory had 75,279 charging points as of October 31.
A number up 53% in one year, but still insufficient. Because France is still far from the Netherlands, which has 69 terminals for 100 electric cars, compared to 8 in France!
A little help
While the distribution of catches is still unequal depending on the country, the majority being in Germany and the Netherlands, the European Union could even crack down. Parliament is considering imposing fines on countries that take too long to expand their network of terminals. And if we do not know if France could be concerned, the government still wants to speed up in this area.
For this, the Ministry of the Economy has just announced the release ofan envelope of 10 million euros to develop the charging network for electric cars in France. This budget will then be allocated to co-financing of terminals in independent service stations.
Indeed, at present, most terminals are located in Île-de-France, and in particular in shops, in car parks and on the road, according to the barometer of Avere France. However, from 2035, the sale of thermal cars will be prohibited everywhere in Europe, which risks being more complicated in the provinces than in the big cities, already well equipped with charging stations.
This aid put in place by the government therefore aims in particular to help set up these infrastructures in areas further away from the capital. Indeed, and as specified in the press release from the ministry, only stations located ” in a municipality of intermediate or rural density will be eligible for this little boost. The latter will take the form of state funding up to 60 to 70% of the cost of the installationdepending on the power of the terminal, from 50 to 150 kW.
Several criteria
Apart from the fact that the service station must be in a rural area, which must be listed in the INSEE’s seven-level municipal density grid, only those selling less than 2,500 m3 of fuel per year are eligible for it. According to the government, they would therefore be more than 4,000 in France to be able to take advantage of this little boost. Thus, it should allow the development of fast charging throughout the territory, facilitating access to the electric car even in more remote regions.
Because for the time being, autonomy (and therefore recharging) is still one of the main obstacles to the choice of this engine. Owners of eligible service stations will have to submit a request to the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) from 1 December. The aid will then be paid one month after the validation of the file.
This is not the first time the government has come to the aid of small independent stations. Last August, a subsidy ranging from 3,000 to 6,000 euros was granted to 880 of them in order to help them apply the fuel discount, depending on their sales volume. For the time being, the State does not specify whether the beneficiaries of the aid for the installation of the terminals will have to call on one or more service providers in particular or whether the choice of the company will be free. We will therefore still have to wait before knowing everything about this measure, the end date of which has not been communicated either.
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