Charging stations for electric vehicles will be chargeable from the second quarter of 2023 in the Rouen metropolis
The charging stations for electric vehicles, made available free of charge by the Rouen metropolis, will become chargeable in the second quarter of 2023. A measure that the metropolis justifies by a need to fight against “sucker cars” and by the increase in prices electricity. We asked two users for their opinion.
Free for eight years, the charging stations for electric vehicles in the Rouen metropolitan area will become chargeable in the second quarter of 2023. A pricing decision taken by the Rouen Normandy metropolitan area and which it justifies firstly by the problem of the “suction cup cars” phenomenon .
“We found that the terminals supply vehicles 5% of the time but that the latter are connected 60% of the time. People therefore park 12 times longer than they need to, especially in the most strategic places. , towards the station and rue Jeanne d’Arc”, explains Cyrille Moreau, vice-president of the metropolis, in charge of transport, mobility of the future and active modes of travel.
The issue has been seen by users like Naomi. This 31-year-old English teacher bought an electric car in 2020. “It suits me that it becomes chargeable because too many cars park for a long time in places. So if it can dissuade people from doing that and it frees up more terminals, that would be good”she believes.
“For six months, it’s been a disaster to find terminals, there are never places. Many company cars and driving schools load up on the terminals”remarks for his part Arthur, a sales representative at La Poste, who has been renting an electric car since 2021. But for this 26-year-old man from Rouen, the reason given by the metropolis for making this service chargeable is “a bogus excuse”.
According to him, the real reason is rather to be found on the side of the increase in the price of energy. This is also the second argument of the metropolis. “Before, we had 200,000 euros in energy bills compared to one million last year. If we only increase the supply, the bills will become delirious. We cannot continue to provide free electricity, especially if on the very expensive pay”justifies Cyrille Moreau.
The fee schedule that will come into effect in the second quarter of 2023 can be viewed below and on the metropolis website. It will be subject to change each year. The price depends on several parameters: whether or not he joins MOBI (the charging network), the power of the terminal, and the time during which the user charges his vehicle.
Arthur has done his calculations and does not find this excessive. “Obviously, it would cost me 8 euros per full recharge. A because of a refill per week, I would have for 32 euros per me, which seems fair to me.”
Naomi does not see this pricing as an additional cost. “We are very lucky to have had free charges for so long. It’s a bit normal that it becomes chargeable, it’s not going to be exorbitant like in Paris either”she observes.
These terminals have “a troubleshooting function”, insists Cyrille Moreau, who believes that users will not give up electricity because of this switch to paying. But Arthur, for lack of a garage, uses them as the main terminal. “I think it’s fair that we pay a little for our journeys. I want to pay but in this case, I have to have a terminal all the time”he points out.
We have set ourselves the target of 200 charging stations [d’ici 2026, ndlr] and we will go up in quality.
Cyrille Moreau, vice-president of the metropolis in charge of mobility
His rental contract for his electric car ends in a year and the young man does not intend to renew it. “The hassle when it’s free, ok, but the hassle when it’s paid, no. I’m going to go back to a thermal.”
Currently, the Rouen metropolitan area has around 70 charging stations. But given the recent “explosion in the number of electric vehicles” – 6,138 in Seine-Maritime, including 3,186 in the metropolis of Rouen in 2021 according to official figures – the lack of terminals is glaring. “We have set ourselves the target of 200 charging stations [d’ici 2026, ndlr] and we will go up in quality”promises Cyrille Moreau.