France24.com: French industrial giant Bolloré, the company behind Paris’s hugely successful “Autolib” electric car-sharing scheme, plans to create a network of 16,000 public charging points across country, the Economy and Finance ministry announced Monday.
French Economy and Finance Minister Emmanuel Macron said the company would be investing 150 million euros to create the network for electric and hybrid vehicles over the next four years.
His ministry, as well as the environment ministry, would be looking at giving Bolloré tax relief for installing the charging stations on the public highway.
The ministry is also considering increasing the rebate for buying a new electric or hybrid car, which is currently up to 6,300 euros depending on the level of CO2 emitted, to 10,000 euros.
“Through a private initiative with public support, we are accelerating our route towards having a truly national network of electric car charging points,” he announced.
Bolloré CEO Vincent Bolloré told Europe 1 radio that, once built, “no one in France will be more than 40 kilometres away from a charging station”.
Legislation on France's transition to electric cars, currently being debated in parliament, forsees around seven million charging points in France by 2030.
Paris’s Autolib scheme, which began in 2012, now includes some 2,500 vehicles served by 871 charging stations dotted around the city.
On a typical day, the cars are used for around 10,000 journeys. The scheme has 105,000 subscribers (a subscription costs 130 euros a year) who are charged an additional 5.50 euros per half an hour driving.
