Ionity celebrates its 100th charging station in France and offers kWh pricing


3

The European network of fast charging stations Ionity is celebrating the commissioning of its 100th station in France. The consortium now offers per-kWh pricing instead of per-minute billing.

© Erick Fontaine / Digital

It was in the parking lot of the Novotel in Saint-Witz (95), on the A1, that the operator of the Ionity fast charging station network had made an appointment with some media and representatives of car manufacturers who are members of the consortium. Coincidence or provocation, but for the record, the Tesla Supercharger in Valence is also installed in the parking lot… of a Novotel.

The choice of Novotel Saint-Witz is of particular importance, since it is the 100th station of fast terminals opened by Ionity. In reality, there are even 102 stations, which makes France “the secondary market throughout the European continent“. The Saint-Witz station currently has seven terminals in operation, including a generic 50 kW one. Eventually, it is planned to put 12 terminals into service.

© Erick Fontaine / Digital

© Erick Fontaine / Digital

By crossing the bar of 100 hundred stations, Ionity achieves a small feat, knowing that initially, it was planned to set up in France only 80 to 85 stations, whose maximum charging power is 350 kW. The objective is to offer 180 stations by 2025. Today, said stations deliver on average between 120 and 150 kW, for a ceiling of 250 kW on existing cars.

According to Ionity, drivers using its terminals spend between 15 and 30 minutes on site and can recover some 300 km of autonomy.

© Erick Fontaine / Digital

© Erick Fontaine / Digital

To date, Ionity, a pan-European network with several car manufacturers in its ranks (BMW, Ford, Volkswagen group, Hyundai, Kia and Mercedes), has 414 stations in 24 countries. That is a total of 1,700 terminals, a number which should be increased to 7,000 by 2025.

Advertising, your content continues below

Currently, 33 stations are under construction. The number of terminals should increase from 6 to 12, and the service should be optimized in the process: reception has been greatly reinforced with protective roofs similar to those of the Dutch operator Fastned, solar panels, wifi and furniture to accommodate customers. One or two vending machines for drinks and sweets would not be a luxury…

© Erick Fontaine / Digital

© Erick Fontaine / Digital

If Ionity is mainly targeting the motorway network by consolidating it via calls for tenders (a dozen are in progress), it is considering extending to the secondary network (national and departmental). And does not exclude attacking the outskirts of large cities, knowing that the main obstacle is the availability of land. But a contribution of 700 million additional investments should help Ionity to multiply its network by two and its number of terminals by four by 2024.

Pricing per kWh

Good news never comes alone, Ionity announces — finally — that its old per-minute pricing has changed to kWh. As a result, count €0.39/kWh for terminals capped at 50 kW and €0.69/kWh for those at 350 kW. These prices are exclusive of subscription.

On the other hand, unlike a Tesla or a Belib, no penalties for drivers remaining on site once the charge is complete: Ionity wants to trust the civility of users. Good luck…

Advertising, your content continues below

Advertising, your content continues below



Source link -98