By the end of January 2024, France had 120,000 publicly accessible charging points, representing a 41% increase from the previous year.
This growth is part of the government’s efforts to promote the transition to electric mobility, aiming to reach 150,000 stations by the end of 2024.
Stéphane Semeria, General Delegate of the French Federation of Electric Vehicle User Associations (FFAUVE) and international official of GEVA and e-GATE, tells Mobility Portal Europe:
“Despite this progress, this milestone will only cover a third of the ambitious target of 400,000 points by 2030, highlighting the need to accelerate the implementation pace in the coming years.”
He further notes, “Although the growth in quantity is undeniable, the quality of some charging networks leaves much to be desired.”
Specifically, issues were reported with 22-kilowatt AC charging stations and 50-kilowatt DC ones.
The lack of maintenance or insufficient charging speeds at these stations negatively impacts user experience and, in some cases, discourages the transition to electric mobility.
However, on the other hand, it is worth mentioning that the fast-charging sector has shown remarkable growth.
In January 2022, only 9% of installations in France were fast-charging stations, and this figure increased to 17% in the same period in 2024, according to the expert.
Of this total, 8% are now ultra-fast charging stations, which offer power outputs above 150 kilowatts, compared to just 2% two years ago.
France currently has approximately 18,000 high-power charging terminals, of which nearly 7,800 are ultra-fast.
The number of these terminals has increased by 2.4 times since the beginning of 2023, indicating an acceleration in the development of more efficient infrastructure.
A noteworthy aspect is that the growth of the charging infrastructure is not limited to motorways. Increasingly, charging points are being installed on secondary networks and in strategic locations such as shopping centres, expanding access to these facilities for urban drivers and those in rural areas.
This diversified approach is essential to making electric mobility more accessible across the entire country.
According to Stéphane, this diversification of infrastructure is essential, particularly for urban drivers who may not have access to home charging or collective parking spaces.
“Not everyone lives in a house with a private garage, and not everyone takes motorways, which are often costly in France,” he explains.
Fast-charging solutions in city centers, malls, and even rural areas offer vital alternatives for the wider population.
“All these infrastructures are positive signals of the transformation taking place. They provide confidence to those who may have hesitated, proving that the electric car is not just a passing trend,” says Stéphane.
Heavy transport and retrofit challenges
While France is making strides in building infrastructure for private EVs, challenges remain in other areas, such as the electrification of heavy transport.
There are ongoing projects to electrify trucks and buses to decarbonize freight transport, but the pace of development has been slow.
Retrofitting (R-Fit)—converting combustion vehicles to electric ones—is allowed in France, but its industrial-scale implementation remains difficult due to high costs and limited incentives.
Stéphane indicates that “R-Fit has only converted about 40 cars, such as Citroën 2CVs and Renault 4s, in 2023, and remains the only company to achieve notable sales”.
He continues: “Not all retrofitting ventures have been successful—Transition One, one of the pioneers, has already closed its doors“.
On a brighter note, Lormauto managed to secure approval for its electric Twingo conversions, and NOIL continues to make strides in retrofitting mopeds.
Gigafactories: the key to energy independence
In tandem with infrastructure development, France is making progress in securing its position in the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain by investing in battery gigafactories.
These facilities are crucial for reducing reliance on imports, particularly from Asian markets, and fostering local production.
According to Stéphane, “It is necessarily disturbing for an EV manufacturer in Europe to think that a third, if not half, of the product sold, will enrich an Asian country.”
Producing batteries locally also facilitates recycling and helps minimize the carbon footprint associated with transporting raw materials from distant regions.
Several gigafactories are currently under construction in the country, but the recent slowdown in vehicle sales poses a challenge to their success.
Nevertheless, these factories are seen as vital for bolstering the country’s industrial capacity and ensuring a more resilient electric mobility ecosystem.
