“He doesn’t work,” says the Belgian Sonja Beukelaars (60), holding her charging pass against a charging station on one aire On the French Route du Soleil, just under Dijon. The brand new device does not seem to give at home. “Do we have to move to another pole?” Says her Dutch husband Sjoerd Vis (75). “Or try the credit card?”
They go to the pole and only see in small print Appuyer ICI: click here. A push of a button, the pass again and their gray Citroën starts to buzz softly. Beukelaars looks relieved. “Every pole works differently, so it always takes some time to figure it out.”
Beukelaars and Fish are on the way to Provence, for the first time with their new electric car. “We bought this because we think it is important to reduce our ecological footsteps,” says Vis. And they save a lot: the couple of ‘fossil’ spent 150 euros per month, now that is 40 euros.
Sjoerd Vis and Sonja Beukelaars are on holiday for the first time in the electric car.
Arnaud Finistre
At home loading always flexible, but on vacation you have to plan significantly more than with a petrol car. “We look at the map of Chargel Where there are chargers and where it is quiet. And then you hope they do it, “says Vis. A day earlier they wanted to load a Lidl, but there turned out to be all the posts out of use.” Then you have to go through again. But in the end it always works. “
The charging stations around the Route du Soleil fill themselves with Belgian, Dutch and German cars – and a single French. This is consistent with data from the Dutch shuttleThat organizations advise on mobility policy and sustainability. A growing number of Dutch people go on holiday to France with an electric car. Among other things, the Route du Soleil colors deep green on shuttles heatmaps who published it at the end of July. The same cards from 2023 and 2022 show significantly less large green spots.
The number of public charging points in France has therefore increased sharply in recent years. Where the country had 82,000 public charging points in 2022, there were more than 118,000 in 2023 and almost 155,000 in 2024, it appears From a ‘barometer’ from the Ministry of Ecological Transition. At the end of last month the counter was almost 175,000. And the trend continues, if it is up to the government: in 2030 There must be 400,000 public charging points, of which 50,000 fast, where charging only takes twenty to thirty minutes.
Political decisions
The rapid development of the charging point network can also be seen in other EU countries-the Netherlands counts Nearly 200,000 public charging stations. They are actually always political decisions that drive the transformation, says Liana Cipcigan, professor of electric transport and smart energy networks at the University of Cardiff. “Every time we see that a drastic change in the field of electric driving does not come so much from technological progress, but especially by what politicians decide.”
In France there is one Mobility Act From 2019 one of the most determining factors. He wrote that per 2025 at least 5 percent of all places in parking places for at least twenty cars should have a charging station. Then supermarkets, (fast food) restaurants and hotels are massive charging stations lay downaccording to an analysis of data platform Gireve. This made it possible to load hypermarchésMcDonald’s or Ikea, where people had to look for a car dealer or one of those scarce parking areas with a charging point.
The introduction of low emission zones in French cities as of 2019 also had an influence. Cipcigan: “These zones exist in various forms in numerous European cities, and they are a driver for electric driving by private individuals, and for the electrification of buses, taxis, delivery vans and garbage trucks.”
‘Charging stress’ has an influence on holiday choices. Dutch people can hardly load in Spain
This is salient here The French House of Representatives decided in May to abolish these zones to simplify environmental legislation. Cipcigan shakes her head unbelieving. “That not only inhibits the growth of electric driving, it is also bad for air quality and therefore for public health.”
A third factor that promoted electric driving in France is the investment of 1 billion euros that thirteen major mobility companies have made in recent years in expansion and harmonization of the charging post network. Last February they announced until 2028 another 3 billion euros to invest. “Extremely important,” says Cipcigan. “Because of the large amount, but also because it shows that investors have faith in the sector.”
Read also
Macron wants to ‘pause’ European environmental rules to make EU more sovereign, fear of withdrawal industry
European developments also play a role. Consider stricter EU legislation for gasoline and diesel cars, which forced the car industry to adjust. “Brands no longer focus on hybrid cars. But go for fully electric,” says Cipcigan. Other legislation also helps: for example, every new -build home in the EU must now have a charging point. And with renovation of large apartment complexes and offices, at least ten parking spaces must come with a charging point.
Norway in the lead
All in all, this has made this from loading post desert France a country where there is hardly any more charging stress: the fear of stopping with empty batteries. This is different in neighboring Spain: according to the Aedive Interests Association, there are only a small one 50,000 public charging points to be found. This has an influence on holiday choices of electrically moving Dutch people, show the maps of Shuttel: where France turns green, lots of Dutch visitors in Spain yet.
The Berlin Oliver Schlicht (54), who is on the way home with daughter Lisa (19) in an electric Volkswagen van, after a holiday in Spain and Portugal, does understand. “There are hardly any charging stations on the Iberian Peninsula, and if you find one, Loading sometimes takes two hours.”
The two themselves have stopped several times at farms with the question whether they could charge their car there, with a specially taken load cord. “I have been driving electrically for eight years, so I am prepared for everything. For my mother and my wife this would be too much hassle.”
Sin, he thinks, especially because this hassle on top of other hordes comes: longer waiting time, more stops, different providers, opaque prices. “Depending on your subscription, prices at one post can sometimes vary from 9 to 30 cents per kilowatt hour. It makes electric driving more inaccessible, while during our vacation we saw again how serious the climate crisis is. We drove in Spain with 50 degrees, forest fires were everywhere.”
Although France is in front of Spain, it is not the best boy in the European class: the Norwegians lead all comparative lists of charging posts and electric car ownership. This is because Norway pursues more ambitious climate policy, says Cipcigan. For example, the country set itself the goal of prohibiting the sale of new diesel and petrol cars since 2025- ten years earlier than the EU. And the Norwegians have introduced all kinds of measures in recent years that promote electric driving: tax benefits, separate lanes to bypass traffic jams and free parking.
With results: the share of electric cars sold under the newly sold cars increased between 2016 and 2024 29 to 92 percentaccording to figures from data platform Our World in Data. This is relatively more than in China, often seen worldwide as a leader, where in 2024 ‘only’ 48 percent of the newly sold cars were electric. France was 24 percent, this is 21 percent.
What helps the Norwegians is the political consistency, says Cipcigan. Where the French environmental and climate policy despite the green promises of President Emmanuel Macron has been swabbing for years through national-political crises, the Norwegians are steaming, “whatever color the government has.” The wealth of the country – which is largely largely comes from his wealth of fossil energy.
The German Oliver Schligt and his daughter Lisa. Oliver has been driving electrically for eight years.
Arnaud Finistre
Future
The development of electric driving is not nearly over yet. For example, Sweden is working on a road on which electric cars charge while driving. China is working on a charging station that can fill a car battery in 5 minutes. Even an oil state like Saudi Arabia focuses on electric driving. Cipcigan: “That seems paradoxical, but these countries have a lot of money and can quickly catch up with the backlog they have.” Ways are also found to absorb the limited space on the electricity grid: from postponed loading to smart charging Via a virtual power plant and aggregates.
All these developments must be accompanied by a behavioral change, which according to experts is also necessary. Cipcigan: “People now have the feeling that they are losing time with electric driving. But is standing still for fifteen minutes really that bad?” And we have to learn to deal with car batteries. “As you charge your phone before you leave home, you can get used to doing it with your car.”
Oliver Schlight’s daughter Lisa wants to drive electrically if she has her driver’s license. “I think it’s important for the climate,” she says. “And I think my father would get angry otherwise.”