Why the French think (wrongly) that electric cars do not have enough autonomy


French motorists still think, for the most part, that an electric car is not suitable for the motorway. In question: the too low autonomy and the duration of recharging. But it is a received idea, stemming in part from the massive misinformation that the field of electric cars has known for years. We explain why this is not (totally) true.

The motorway group Sanef organized a survey of more than 1,000 motorists at the end of March 2023. The questions all revolved around the electric car, and its ability to make long journeys as can be discovered in the Press release.

80% of French people are on the wrong track

Thus, we can read that ” If 8 out of 10 French people think that 100% electric vehicles are suitable for the city, only 2 out of 10 consider this to be the case for the motorway“. In other words, the majority of French people think that the electric car is not suitable for long motorway journeys, for example during weekend or holiday departures.

The reason ? There are several of them : lack of autonomy in first place (for 75% of respondents), charging time (65%) and difficulty finding charging stations (56%). But the worst is yet to come : ” Only 42% of owners of 100% electric vehicles think these vehicles are suitable for motorways“. There are therefore many owners of electric cars who think that this type of automobile is not made for the highway.

Far be it from us to want to throw stones at these drivers. But these answers, partly decorrelated from reality, show to what extent the electric car has been the target of massive disinformation campaigns, from many actors. These responses also show how certain models have tarnished the image of electric cars. And above all, the reasons why the electric car requires comprehensive and quality training and information for driversto debunk received ideas.

Evidence from experience

You read these lines and still think that electric cars are not made to take the highway at 130 km/h (or 110 km/h in the surely not so distant future)? Some members of our editorial staff have had an electric car since 2019 and make long motorway journeys throughout the year.

You can also read the testimony of Bob, one of our auto freelancers, who even swapped a Tesla Model 3 Grande Autonomie for a Tesla Model Y Propulsion, losing nearly 150 km of theoretical autonomy, after having driven more than 135,000 km in three years, across France.

You can also read the testimony of Romain, who traveled 4,000 km across France during the (dreaded) crossover period, in the summer of 2022. And without losing any feathers!

Electric cars that play against their camps

But, it is true, not all electric cars are equal in the game of long journeys. The most popular electric car in France has long been the Renault Zoé. Precursor in its time, it has precisely had its day. We remember a television report where she was the laughing stock of an entire editorial staff, in the eyes of the whole of France. In question : multiple mistakes by the journalist and Renault when casting the car.

The Renault Zoé has certainly done good for the electric car in France, by making it possible to democratize this mode of transport, in the face of thermal cars. But, on the other hand, it will also have harmed the electric car. Just look at its technical sheet: 395 km of autonomy and a recharge from 10 to 80% in 50 minutes. Correct autonomy, but too long a recharge for long journeys. And again, it’s taking the fast charging option. But, the Zoé had not been designed as a highway sedanhence its rather “slow” recharging.

And it is precisely an element which is too often forgotten and which induces these many preconceived ideas about the electric car: fast charging.

Not all cars are created equal

During a dedicated file, we had precisely compared three electric cars with a theoretical autonomy of 400 km on a Paris – Marseille journey. Of course, range has a direct impact on travel times. The higher the range, the less the car will require recharging stops. But, recharging speed is surely the most important part of the equation.

Source: Ulrich Rozier for Frandroid

Thus, the 2020 Tesla Model 3 Propulsion, with its range of 409 km (it is now 510 km on the 2022 version), only requires 25 minutes to go from 10 to 80% when recharging. This implies, approximately, a 20-minute recharge stop every two hours on the motorway, on average and while driving at 130 km/h.

Many consumers are waiting for an electric car with a range similar to that of a petrol or diesel car (800 to 1000 km) before taking the plunge. But autonomy is a non-issue, and some manufacturers have understood this.

Electric cars with 1,000 km range

Admittedly, Chinese electric cars with a theoretical range of 1,000 km are multiplying like hot cakes. We think in particular of the Zeekr 001 or the Nio ET5 and ET7, surpassing the Lucid Air, Tesla Model S and Mercedes EQS. But to achieve these crazy autonomy, Chinese manufacturers are integrating batteries in their electric cars almost three times larger than in a Tesla Model 3 Propulsion. We are talking about a capacity of 140 to 150 kWh, to be compared with the 50 kWh of a 2020 Tesla Model 3.

The consequence: an exceptional cost (which translates into an unaffordable selling price), a huge need for raw materials and greater pollution during manufacturing. It is for this reason that certain manufacturers, such as Ford, Renault or even Volkswagen, are taking the opposite route.

Nio ET7 and ES8
Nio ET7 and ES8

The idea: to produce cars with a reasonably sized battery, but equipped with ultra-fast charging. The objective: to aim for a correct autonomy, which does not allow you to cross France in one go, of course, but with a recharge in a few minutes.

This is the case of the future Volkswagen ID.2, which is targeting a sale price of 25,000 euros, with a range of 450 km and a recharge in 20 minutes. Ford wants to do the same with its future SUV, which it describes as a “high-speed train” because of the optimizations made to the vehicle to drastically reduce the capacity of its battery, without affecting autonomy.

Renault, for its part, wants to take the same path, with reasonably sized batteries (we are talking about 40 to 50 kWh for the future electric Renault R5). The consequence: a contained price, reduced consumption and a lower carbon footprint.

Fast charging in sight

As you will have understood from reading these lines, autonomy is not the main issue of the electric car. Certainly, a strong autonomy will reassure the most cautious, but with all the harmful consequences listed above.

Conversely, the battle for the electric car is in the area of ​​fast charging. And in this little game, manufacturers are making considerable progress. Nio (him again) offers battery exchange stations (which we were able to try) which allow you to “recharge” (or rather exchange) a battery in less than five minutes.

Nio ET7
Nio ET7

Tesla recently quietly updated its Tesla Model Y with a battery from its main competitor, Chinese BYD, the world’s number 2 electric car, allowing it to go from 10 to 80% in 20 minutes during a recharge. It’s still slower than the 18 minutes of the Hyundai Ioniq 6 thanks to its 800-volt architecture.

But Chinese manufacturers are coming strong in the field, with a promise of charging in 12 minutes in the coming months, and 5 minutes in the coming years, as announced by the giant CATL. It’s borderline too fast, preventing you from having your coffee and performing the technical break in good conditions, without rushing.

The choice of car and autonomy

Finally, the last element on the subject of the autonomy of electric cars: a model which would have a real autonomy on the motorway of 130 km (i.e. approximately 250 km on the WLTP cycle, or approximately the autonomy of the Dacia Spring) would require stop for break recharge every hour. Even if it only lasts 10 minutes (or more), it’s still a constraint.

Dacia Spring
Dacia Spring

But, when choosing a car, should we take into account these long journeys, which most French people only make once a year? Isn’t it better not to take into account his real needs, on a daily basis? In Europe, the average car journey is 30 km per day. More than enough for all electric cars, without the need to recharge every day.

Where are the charging stations?

We cannot end this overview without mentioning the two other issues raised by the French: the lack of charging stations and the difficulty of finding them. The French score a point… but in the short term.

The charging network for electric cars has experienced rapid growth in recent years in France. The country passed the 100,000 public charging station mark (1 million in total including private charging stations) in May 2023. Charging station operators and the State must now exert pressure to ensure that this growth continues.

But as daily electric car users, we could see the difference between 2019 and 2023. The density of terminals is much higher on French territory. Sanef also takes the opportunity to remind you that all network service areas are equipped with charging stations, ie every 50 km on average.

The number of terminals is not enough, they must also be reliable and available. And in this little game, Tesla clearly remains the leader. Driving an electric car over long distances in a Tesla is simple. In competing electric cars that do not have access to the entire network of Tesla Superchargers, long journeys are a little less quiet, because of the more random reliability of the terminals, which is however improving day by day.

The route planner: an element not to be forgotten

Finally, the question of easily finding charging stations is not trivial. There are applications (such as Chargemap or A Better Route Planner) that make it easy to identify the charging stations on your route and even indicate when you should stop to fill up the battery. This is called a route planner.

But not all manufacturers are equal on the subject. Some integrate a route planner into their cars, while others don’t even think about it. It is for this reason that on Frandroid, an electric car that does not include a route planner will never score above 8/10. It is an important element to facilitate and smooth out long journeys. We don’t think about recharging, it’s the car that takes care of it instead of the driver.

As we have just seen, the problem of autonomy on electric cars is a non-issue. In the short term, it is true that autonomy is a criterion to be taken into account when crossing France by electric car. But a range of 400 km with fast charging is more than enough. No need to wait for the (expensive) electric cars with a range of 1000 km to take the plunge.


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