While fuel prices have been on a roll, especially since the start of the war in Ukraine, electricity prices have also shown significant volatility. Less since the introduction of the electricity tariff shield launched last year, but it did not affect electric car charging stations.
Don’t slow down the electrical transition
At the Paris Motor Show last October, Emmanuel Macron promised to implement this extension of the price shield. In a France in full transition to the electric car, the main argument remained to reassure users. 83% of French people believe that the rise in the price of electricity now represents a major obstacle to buying an electric car, according to a recent study commissioned by Leocare.
A promise materialized since the beginning of February, as announced by the Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
While most charging is undoubtedly done at home, with motorists already protected by the shield put in place last year and extended in 2023, it was really important to secure mobile charging, particularly with the network of fast terminals in the motorway network for long journeys.
“The idea of this extension to the charging stations is that there are no holes in the racket of the electricity tariff shield and, more generally, in the aid provided in the face of this energy crisis”, summarizes Mathias Laffont, director of economy. mobility and construction of the French Electricity Union, the professional association of the sector in France.
This expert, however, excludes excessive increases that could have been made by the operators of the different networks.
“Operators really have no interest in raising prices beyond the cost increases they are experiencing,” explains Mathias Laffont.
Especially for players who must promote electromobility, such as Ionity, which belongs to a consortium of manufacturers, or Tesla, which has opened some of its superchargers to customers of other brands.
Beyond the increase in the cost of energy, the increases in recent months are also explained by the recent installation of new stations. However, the electricity prices negotiated, in long contracts of 3 years in general, were thus more favorable for the terminals installed before the start of the energy crisis.
What increase in 2023?
This new system is still quite complex, since it includes charging operators as part of the electric mattress, launched this year for companies and communities.
“Specifically, the State will cover, over 50% of the volumes of electricity consumed, the difference between the contract energy price and €180/MWh (that is, €0.18/kWh). The State will intervene, therefore, directly in the brick of the electricity bill that today is increasing with the prices of the wholesale market, and therefore it will pay part of the electricity bill”, explains the page on the official website of the ministry .
Instead of limiting the increase to a certain level, like the fee shield, this charging station shield will reduce your potential increase. Therefore, it is difficult to estimate the magnitude of the increase this year without this shield.
“It is difficult to give a firm and precise answer to this question of the increase that we could have known, in particular because there are different pricing methods that currently coexist: by time, by kWh, sometimes a flat rate with several components. We were expecting increases of 50% or even 100% this year, so we hope that this will limit price increases as much as possible”, analyzes Clément Molizon, general delegate of Avere, association for the promotion of electric vehicles.
Faced with this price increase, some operators are also establishing advantageous rates during off-peak hours. This is particularly the case with Tesla or Allego. Others offer more attractive prices through renewable energy contracts.
“The Yaway operator has just lowered its prices by 20-25% because it is going through wind power contracts,” recalls Clément Molizon.
Enough to appeal to electric car users who may be lured by the prospect of cutting their bill a bit, while charging up with carbon-free electricity.
Source: BFM TV
