France Building EV Charging Network

france-ev
France is going after one of the key obstacles to getting electric cars on the road: the need for a charging infrastructure. The country is changing all that by spending $2.2 billion to build a network of charging stations.

Taxpayer money will go to fund the project that will install the initial nation-wide network, but beyond that, the country is putting the burden on building owners.

The government is making the installation of charging stations mandatory in office parking lots by 2015 and any new apartment buildings with parking lots must host charging stations by 2012. That's a quick turnaround! But according to France's Environment Minister, a group of fleet operators have indicated they'll be purchasing around 100,000 EVs by 2015, so the network will be in place just in time.

This project also involves contributing to the creation of a battery manufacturing factory at a Renault facility in Flins.

via Wall Street Journal

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The plug
written by Twist9, October 03, 2009

What plug configuration are they using? A big government effort like this might solidify one configuration as the dominant.

A good thing.
written by Bruce, October 03, 2009

Obviously this is a good thing. Since electricity is a commodoty that must be paid for, I wonder who will pay. In an apartment building, if they have assigned parking and if tenants pay their own power bills, they might wire the outlet from each parking space up to the apartment. That way each would pay for their own usage. We had something similar to that at an apartment complex where I lived in British Columbia. Each assigned parking space had an electrical outlet so you could plug in your vehicle's engine block heater and each outlet was wired up to your apartment's individual electric feed with a cutoff switch in the apartment. Conversely the building owner could provide all the electricity and pass the cost on in the form of higher rent. In that case the winners would be those who use the most electricity in the parking lot and the losers would be those who used little or no electricity in the parking lot.

Dog power for France
written by Jack, October 04, 2009

It confounds me that France is spending so much money on this infrastructure when they have the raw materials for generating all of that power right on the streets.

France has the world's highest ratio of dog feces per square meter of any nation on Earth. Each day, 145.7 tonnes of dog feces is transported indoors on people's shoes, the remainder is washed by street cleaners or rain.

Dog feces is a scandalously wasted resource in France, it could be used to generate power using bio-digesters.

...
written by T, October 04, 2009

Once again, France pwns us.

I hope they're not as expensive as the paid-toilets
written by nalts, October 04, 2009

Ever get to a place in France, where you can't find anywhere to pee unless you have change?

...
written by Magnulus, October 04, 2009

Of course, Nalts. That's why Paris reeks of urine.

CleanTuesday
written by cleantuesday, October 04, 2009

Cleantuesday revient sur les Cleantech pour rÃ©duire l'impact environnemental des Transports et les moyens d'aide Ã une mobilitÃ© durable mardi 13 octobre 2009 a partir de 18H30 a La Cantine (151 rue Montmartre 75 002 Paris)

Au programme:

*un leader mondial dÃ©voile ses projets: la SNCF presente le programme Eco Mobilite

*une start up australienne optimise les transports a la demande: Interactive Transports

*une start up franÃ§aise presente son vehicule tout electrique: Tilter

*une start up franÃ§aise prÃ©sente son produit qui rÃ©duit de plus de 20% la consommation de carburants des bateaux a moteur: Flying Vessel

Inscriptions ouvertes sur
http://cleantuesdayparis.fr/event/

Cleantuesday returns on the Cleantech to reduce the environmental impact of transport and means of assistance to sustainable mobility Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 18h30 at La Cantine (151 rue Montmartre, Paris 75 002)

Program:

* a world leader unveils plans : SNCF

* a start-up optimizes the Australian transport : Interactive Tranport

* 2 French starts up in land transport and maritime : Tilter and Flying Vessel

Registration open

picture
written by Ben, October 05, 2009

Just a side not to say that it is a little poor to post a picture of London street to illustrate a subject on France!!

@Ben - London streets
written by Errol, October 05, 2009

London is pretty near to Paris isn't it? That is why you shouldn't take anything published by this site terribly seriously. It is just a regurgitator of Green-pop.

London streets
written by Paul Harper, October 06, 2009

Ben,

name that street ?

actually, it could be Bath or Edinburgh or a number of other places, but lets let Megan off ... she was probably dazzled at how tiny that car is ...

personally, I'm amazed that the cable is intact & the local authority haven't carted it off to a pound.