© François-Xavier Driant
Saemes and TotalÉnergies have just commissioned the largest electric vehicle charging infrastructure in France in the 8th district.
The biggest “electric vehicle charging infrastructure” (Irve) of France, even of Europe, is located in the heart of the capital. No less than 505 terminals have just been installed and put into service – “In record time,” according to its promoters – in the Madeleine-Tronchet car park (8th), property of the City of Paris, managed by Saemes (which operates 70 car parks in Île-de-France, i.e. 30,200 spaces). The parking operator hears a loud knock. “Underground car parks represent a great opportunity for the development of electric mobility in city centers, wants to believe Ghislaine Geffroy, the general manager. We have decided to massively deploy charging devices there. »
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Following a call for tenders, Saemes signed a contract with TotalÉnergies and Sogetrel involving a “global investment of more than 3 million euros”. The two delegated companies are responsible for the upstream and downstream networks, transformer stations, purchase, installation, maintenance and operation of the 1,000 electric charging stations announced in Paris by the end of 2022. The Saemes does not wish to communicate the unit cost, but a quick calculation gives the figure of 3,000 euros per terminal on average. An equipment “hardly profitable in the immediate futureadmits Ghislaine Geffroy, which is betting on rapid growth in demand”.
Few quick charges
“Profitability is the great unknown, confirms Guillaume Larroque, European director of the marketing service branch at TotalÉnergies. Risk taking is important. But Paris is a pioneer in terms of carbon-free mobility: the ZFE [zone à faibles émissions] is ambitious, diesel vehicles must be banned in 2024 and petrol in 2030. We want to accompany this movement in a resolute way. »
At the Madeleine, most of the 505 terminals (half of the parking spaces in the car park) have a power of 7 kilowatt hours, i.e. a slow charge of around six hours for 300 kilometres. Some offer a power of 22 kilowatt hours. And regarding thirty are for motorized two-wheelers (3 kilowatt hours). The tariffs include a fixed part of 0.50 euro and a charging cost of 0.40 euro per kilowatt hour. “An electric vehicle parks at the same rate as a thermal vehicle [4,40 euros pour une heure ; 39,60 euros pour vingt-quatre heures]but the subscription for an electric vehicle is on average 50% cheaper than for a thermal vehicle”says the Saemes.
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Paris is a pioneer in terms of carbon-free mobility
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Other Saemes car parks are equipped: more than 240 terminals in that of Porte d’Auteuil (16th), 12 in that of Jean-Bouin (16th). Very soon, the Saint-Augustin-Bergson car park (8th) will in turn be able to claim more than 350 terminals. TotalÉnergies also manages, for ten years, the public network of on-street charging stations, the first in France, ie 2,300 Belib’ terminals (partly the former Autolib’ locations). From “Belib fast recharge hubs” (50 kilowatt hours) must be installed in 10 underground car parks in the capital: the first must be put into service in the coming days under the Town Hall (5 terminals); two others, before the end of the year, in Saint-Augustin-Bergson (from 5 to 7 terminals) and at the Porte d’Auteuil (idem); the rest by 2025.
In Île-de-France, the sector leader operates around 3,500 slow-charge terminals and around thirty fast-charge terminals, including the 100% electric station at La Défense, which also has six HPC ultra-fast terminals (175 kilowatt hours) . “We operate 10,000 terminals in Amsterdam, indicates Guillaume Larroque, we deploy in Brussels, London or Singapore. The development potential is enormous. »