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Charging in N France - advice please

6K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  Max69 
#1 ·
I may be taking my new car to Paris early April. I plan to top up to 80% or so at the Shuttle and will then need one Rapid Charge session en route to and from Paris. There's a charger in the car park I'll be using in Paris.

There seem to be several Corri-door 50kW CCS chargers on that route (A26/A1). Are they reliable? Can I use a (French) bank card? What Apps or RFID cards do I need? Should I sign up for a Chargemap account and get their RFID card? Any other networks I should be aware of and/or get cards for? KiWiPass??

I'm not too worried about the cost of the charge; but I don't want to give my EV-sceptic wife any ammunition by having any hassles...

Jaguar's Public Charging App (Plugsurfing) seems to list chargers in Paris but not elsewhere in France...??
 
#2 ·
Use the charge map app but don't sign for a card because I noticed the charge cost more, up to 0.70€ / KW sometimes !
If u have a french credit card with RFID u should be ok. U can check the corridor website to
Chargemap app should tell u if the charger u re looking for is working. Look at the users comments.
 
#3 ·
I will also be travelling thru Northern France in August enroute to 2 Center Parcs - am planning on using the Ionity chargers at Aire de Relly and just north of Reims.
Any idea what card/s would be recommended please?
Thanks
Richard
 
#4 ·
Most of the corridor ones are ok. In theory 50kW, but ai hear maximum on most is 43. I did > 40 on all the ones I tried. I have a KiWhi card, but I think most cards are now compatible. I don't think they accept credit cards. Also most are slow to accept cards, had to try a few times on some before it would accept my card.

Ionity is installing chargers in FR as well, so check those as well
 
#5 ·
Thé Corri-door network is operated by Izivia ( Sodetrel / EDF group ) . I would say that their Card is more reliable than others and their price more competitive
 
#6 ·
maldives9 said:
I will also be travelling thru Northern France in August enroute to 2 Center Parcs - am planning on using the Ionity chargers at Aire de Relly and just north of Reims.
Any idea what card/s would be recommended please?
Thanks
Richard
Chargemap is one or you can pay directly site Visa
 
#7 ·
Perfect - so my normal UK based Visa Debit card will work - does it need a pre-registration or anything do you think?
Richard
 
#8 ·
You cannot drive around France without a Chargemap card and the Kiwhi card. These are a must. I would also recommend a Freshmile card (and the app). Also never expect >40kW speeds (except when visiting the 5 Ionity stations in the country) since I hardly ever got that at Sodetrel chargers (they are a typical nightmare, even slow to start, I mean the 'menus and so on'). But you'll have a lot of fun, especially if you drive careful around the route nationale the I-Pace is a true joy and with some wind in the back it can be ECO also. (I just drove to Madrid last week from Amsterdam all through France).
 
#9 ·
electricfelix said:
You cannot drive around France without a Chargemap card and the Kiwhi card. These are a must. I would also recommend a Freshmile card (and the app). Also never expect >40kW speeds (except when visiting the 5 Ionity stations in the country) since I hardly ever got that at Sodetrel chargers (they are a typical nightmare, even slow to start, I mean the 'menus and so on'). But you'll have a lot of fun, especially if you drive careful around the route nationale the I-Pace is a true joy and with some wind in the back it can be ECO also. (I just drove to Madrid last week from Amsterdam all through France).
I thought that Newmotion and Plugsurfing were on most networks (like Sodetrel in France). This is not the case? I plan travelling to a little south of Nantes this Summer and was hoping those two cards would cover me.
 
#10 ·
Getjaggywithit said:
electricfelix said:
You cannot drive around France without a Chargemap card and the Kiwhi card. These are a must. I would also recommend a Freshmile card (and the app). Also never expect >40kW speeds (except when visiting the 5 Ionity stations in the country) since I hardly ever got that at Sodetrel chargers (they are a typical nightmare, even slow to start, I mean the 'menus and so on'). But you'll have a lot of fun, especially if you drive careful around the route nationale the I-Pace is a true joy and with some wind in the back it can be ECO also. (I just drove to Madrid last week from Amsterdam all through France).
I thought that Newmotion and Plugsurfing were on most networks (like Sodetrel in France). This is not the case? I plan travelling to a little south of Nantes this Summer and was hoping those two cards would cover me.
To go from NL to Nantes you can rely on 3 Ionity stations , from Northern France to Tours & Angers
 
#11 ·
Getjaggywithit said:
I thought that Newmotion and Plugsurfing were on most networks (like Sodetrel in France). This is not the case? I plan travelling to a little south of Nantes this Summer and was hoping those two cards would cover me.
In all fairness indeed Newmotion and Plugsurfing should get you around most France highways. But they charge 'start' costs and for example when using kiwhi or chargemap rfid's you 'just' pay (a horrible) per minute price. Anyway, you will survive, just take your time and don't forget the 'windy' app to check the wind on your route!
 
#12 ·
I used goingelectric.de and planned the route. I need one charger somewhere between Lille and Paris and plan to use the Ionity ones for two short stops after that. Ionity have more stalls, so hoping there's less chance of them being occupied (and charging faster). Travelling through France last year (in a Diesel, having orded the i-Pace already), I saw that the Sodetrel highway ones are only one sometimes two stalls. But question is whether Newmotion and Plugsurfing is covering me or if I need to get a Sodetrel card or something else as stated in the earlier post by electricfelix.

- edit - only now saw the post on the next page by electricfelix, thanks :) Did not know there is a windy app..... -
 
#13 ·
electricfelix said:
You cannot drive around France without a Chargemap card and the Kiwhi card. These are a must. I would also recommend a Freshmile card (and the app). Also never expect >40kW speeds (except when visiting the 5 Ionity stations in the country) since I hardly ever got that at Sodetrel chargers (they are a typical nightmare, even slow to start, I mean the 'menus and so on'). But you'll have a lot of fun, especially if you drive careful around the route nationale the I-Pace is a true joy and with some wind in the back it can be ECO also. (I just drove to Madrid last week from Amsterdam all through France).
How was the charging in Spain?
 
#14 ·
Spain is quite the charging mess, I have to say. But both IBIL and Iberdrola are working hard to make life better. The last one mentioned is even promising 150kW stations later in 2019. BUT right now, if you're not Spanish, Iberdrola will not allow you to make an account in any way. So unless you find a Spanish RFID somewhere are you have a NIE (social security # in Spain) you can forget about them. Which makes life quite a pain. IBIL is slow, if you find a charger doing 40kW speeds you are lucky. Expensive too. (Couldn't test Iberdrola, been in a mess of customer service that I can recommend you to avoid). Thanks to apps like "Electromaps" and "Easy Charger" you can find a couple more chargers in Spain, some of which super useful. It took us an awful long time from Bordeaux to Madrid but on the way back we planned around IBIL as much as we could and thay way made the return trip much better (Still expensive). Obviously life will depend on where you are going and how much km's you want to do in a day matters. But expect charging to be slow, difficult, not always near the highway and so on, and you need a multitude of apps, and Spanish speaking preferably when you need to call a customer service agent (which will probably happen to you on a longer trip).
 
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