High-power charging joint venture Ionity opened one of Europe’s largest HPC stations in Europe this week. It is at a Vinci Autoroutes rest stop in Rousset, near Marseille and Aix-en-Provence at the A8 motorway.
The new hub is the 55th in a network of 60 ultra-rapid charging hubs set to open in France this month with Vinci. The company is one of the largest French motorway concessionaires, managing 4,443 kilometres.
As usual, Ionity relies on partners with access to the site to establish its high-power charging stations.
The Rousset site offers 16 HPC points and space for another eight should demand keep up.
Already most Ionity hubs in the country display a larger number of chargers, averaging more than 12 charging points compared to previously six on average, making France home to most Ionity charge points.
Brieuc de Tonquédec, country manager for Ionity in France, said the station in Rousset illustrated “how we support the exponentially increasing penetration of electric vehicles: more charging points, more services and a better customer experience through”.
He added they would now focus on further extending the existing charging parks.
One year after the opening of the 100th French station, the company says it already increased the number of charging points by half.
Ionity operates more than 130 charging parks in France with over 700 ultra-fast 350 kW charging points.
Many of these have been established in partnership with Vinci. Commenting on the new site in Rousset, Olivier Granier, head of commercial facilities at Vinci Autoroutes, said it is “an important location for long-distance journeys in the south of France”.
He added the company was expanding charge parks to all of its 181 service stations, then “offering 1,800 charging points, 90 per cent of them being fast charging points”.
In addition to the charging park in Rousset, Ionity has recently expanded along the legendary “Autoroute du Soleil” motorway and near the Pyrenees.
The fast-charging network now provides access to the Côte d’Azur and Provence and simplifies the journey to Spain.
As of July 2023, the Ionity HPC network comprises more than 500 charging stations with over 2,500 charging points in 24 European countries.
Ionity is a joint venture of the car manufacturers BMW Group, Ford, Hyundai, Mercedes Benz AG and Volkswagen Group with Audi and Porsche, along with BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure Platform as a financial investor.
