PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault, the public funding agency La Caisse des Dépôts and the electric grid manager ERDF signed a protocol or MOU on the networking of EV infrastructure development in France on 3 October, after a press conference held by the French ministers of industrial development; of ecology, sustainable development and energy; and of marine transport and fisheries.
Reporting the initiative, Renault says plug-in vehicle drivers will be able to locate and access existing charging points across and beyond France, whoever owns or operates them – be it a municipality, car park operator, car sharing club, etc. – through the deployment of a data network accessible via a GPS-based system or smartphone app.
At the ministers’ request, the four parties to the MOU have undertaken to arrange agreements with the parties concerned with EV infrastructure in order to supply the competencies and means required to develop the network, which has been called GIREVE (Groupement pour l’Itinérance des Recharges Electriques de Véhicules).
Their first task is to create a national database of charging points encompassing their specifications and real-time availability, which will be made available to enterprises and municipalities involved in EVSE-related services, with data exchange standards and facilities for charging users and remitting charges between operators. The group will represent France in attempting to agree standards for EVSE across borders.
The French government, reported Le Journal de l’Automobile on 4 October, has also confirmed the extension of its €7,000 (US$9,000) EV purchase incentive into 2013 (available to private and fleet buyers), and the release of €50m of funds from its Investments in the Future Programme (PIA) to support the funding of EVSE installations, inclusive of municipalities’ expenditure. Charging point funding will be available to local authorities with populations over 200,000, and for a limited period, for installers of charging points on motorways or in car parks. The government is to install EV charging points in some of its own establishments, and EV users are to be offered preferential parking tariffs and motorway tolls where these are levied by the public sector.
