On the Belib ‘network, the price paid to cover 100 kilometers with an electric vehicle can appear slightly higher than that of a medium template thermal car.
by Jean- Michel Normand
Pricing blows hot and cold on public charging stations. In terms of increases – the most provided -, the Parisian network Belib ‘distinguished itself by announcing, on January 2, a strong revaluation. Coupled with a change in the calculation method (the price will no longer be exclusively based on charging time and will also be able to integrate the amount of energy consumed), this revision makes the increase difficult to read a priori. Users, however, are starting to take the measure. Some people already have noted a quasi-meat of the invoice.
To simplify, recharge 40 kilowatts (kW), what, on average, browse some 250 kilometers (km), will cost between 13 and 40 euros, depending on whether or not we subscribe to Belib ‘and that the We plugged into a slow or fast terminal. In the most unfavorable configuration, the price paid to cover 100 km with an electric vehicle appears here slightly higher than that of an average template thermal car.
Managed by Totalenergies, the Belib ‘network, which has a quasi-monopoly in the capital, has some 2,300 charging points. For its part, the western network loads, which covers part of Brittany and the Pays de la Loire, will more than double the price per kWh (from 0.22 to 0.49 euros), from January 20.
opaque and unstable universe
Conversely, some operators have decided to lower their prices, such as Allego, which now offers charges between 0.60 euros and 0.69 euros per kWh, after exploding its prices (up to 0 , 98 Euro per kWh), in the fall of 2022. Many people make permanent adjustments, such as Tesla Supercharger, open to the public (currently 0.60 euros for owners of a brand model, 0 , 70 euros for the others, provided you take a monthly subscription of 12.99 euros).
Others, finally, believe that they have to modify anything. This is the case of the Ionity network (founded by Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW, Ford and the South Korean brands), present on the highways. The prices of its competitor The Dutchman Fastned also remain stable, while they fluctuate strongly in Germany, the Netherlands or Belgium.
The decision of a growing number of distributors to integrate a price variation, according to off -peak hours and full hours, helps to introduce even more complexity in the price maquis of charging stations, a universe at the same time opaque and unstable.
deterrent effect for the electric car
What concerns the promoters of the electric car, which question the deterrent effect that the announced increase in the cost of public charging, while oil prices are rather downward. “A clear increase in the kilowatt hour would have little effect on the charging market, which is hardly sensitive to the prix effect, but it could have negative consequences on the intentions of vehicle purchasing,” warns Pierre Courgeon, director of Fastned France.
“Electricity remains the cheapest energy for a car, despite the increase in its price”, however considers Lucie Mattera, secretary general of Chargeup, an organization which brings together the charging infrastructure in Europe. The price shield deployed in France, if it reduces the attraction of public networks, helps to amortize the effects of kilowatt inflation. According to the scale currently applied to individuals, we can estimate that transfer 40 kW to its “wature” from his home is equivalent, according to the time slot and the type of subscription, to an expense between 4 euros and 8 euros.
For “electromobilists” finally remains the solution to connect to a free charging station. Among the approximately 78,000 public terminals installed in France, there are 6,233, most often installed by local communities. It is not certain that their workforce is progressing in the coming months.