Total Energies, owner of the Parisian charging network Belib’, has just taken a radical decision: lowering prices. This fall follows the toll caused by the recent rise in prices. The reason: recharging electric cars cost about twice as much as a full tank of gas.
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On January 3, 2023, TotalEnergies, the operator of the Belib’ charging stations installed in Paris and the Paris region, made a very questionable decision. The French oil giant had announced a massive increase in the price of charging at Belib’ terminals.
At the time, we calculated that refueling a Tesla Model 3 Long Autonomy cost between 32 and 56 euros depending on the power of the terminal used (7 or 50 kW). This is huge, since the cost per 100 km was then 18 euros, compared to almost half for a diesel car.
A huge drop in the price of charging in Paris
Fortunately, TotalEnergies has just announced a substantial drop in Belib’ tariffs. Thus, to recharge a Tesla Model 3 Grande Autonomie, the maximum rate increases to about 40 euros on slow terminals in 7 kW and 22 euros on a 50 kW terminal (the equivalent of a Tesla Supercharger). The price remains high on a 7 kW terminal, but it also includes 7 hours of parking for visitors. And at the price of parking in Paris, it’s borderline a bargain.
Rates for non-resident subscribers and resident subscribers are even weaker and have also decreased. For example, for resident subscribers, 7 kW slow terminals are much more affordable. The price per kWh thus goes from 0.55 to 0.35 euro and the price per quarter hour from 0.60 to 0.35 euro during the day. The latter can even drop to 0.05 euro in the middle of the night.
About what recharge a Tesla Model 3 Grand Autonomy for around 15 euros during off-peak hours of the night (from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m.). This is therefore excellent news for owners of electric cars in Ile-de-France. Since at this price, the cost per 100 km is about 5 euros. It is therefore much cheaper than driving a thermal car, whether petrol or diesel.
Decisions that do not reassure
But these two extreme price adjustments in a few days do not give a very good image of the electric car. It is indeed difficult, under these conditions, to be able to anticipate the cost of an electric car and the gain that can be drawn from it compared to a thermal car. But let’s not forget that gasoline and diesel prices vary every day. The uncertainty is therefore even greater on the thermal side.
It should be noted, however, that this situation is not specific to Belib’ and therefore TotalEnergies. Most charging network operators have varied the price of kWh in recent months, in particular because of the energy crisis. This is particularly the case for Tesla, which is changing prices almost every week at the moment.
Charging prices are yo-yoing
We imagine that the American manufacturer has concluded a wholesale contract with rates that change on a weekly basis according to the price of electricity. Tesla then changes the price for the end consumer, to best reflect the cost of electricity.
Conversely, some operators had decided not to change their prices, such as Electra, which maintained a rate of 0.44 euros per kWh until January 16. Since that date, the price per kWh has increased to 0.54 euro. Compare with 0.69 euro at Ionity or less than 0.40 euro on Tesla Superchargers.
Last small clarification: with home charging, and taking into account the regulated electricity tariff on February 1, 2023 (0.2 euro per kWh), the cost per 100 km of an electric car is around 3.5 euros.
If you wish to find out the complete prices of the Belib’ network, the operator has updated the price list on its website.
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