Third party charging in France

[markharro]

We are considering a trip to France in the next few weeks. Can I confirm that you need some sort of card to use any third party chargers? It seems that the Chargemap card is recommended - is this because it is an umbrella card that gives access to a number of charging networks? It appears to be about 20 euros to buy the card. Is this per annum or for life? Has anyone bought one recently? If so how long did it take from the order for the card to turn up in the UK?
Are there any free backup cards or apps that can be recommended? thanks

 

[Mr H]

I have a Chargemap card - not used it yet but it took about a month to arrive.

Get a Maingau card for cheaper rates at ionity and a plugsurfing card for most other things.

Those 3 together with the supercharger network would do you fine.

 

[markharro]

I have a Chargemap card - not used it yet but it took about a month to arrive.

Get a Maingau card for cheaper rates at ionity and a plugsurfing card for most other things.

Those 3 together with the supercharger network would do you fine.

Oh dear we don't have a month! Do you recall if the plugsurfing card arrived quicker?
Is there any option to buy these cards when you arrive in France or indeed any chargers you can use with an App rather than card? Thanks

 

[Andrew_SE23]

My Chargemap card took less than two weeks to arrive. Tesla chargers and Chargemap did me very well on a trip to Brittany at the beginning of this year.

 

[Derek25]

Oh dear we don't have a month! Do you recall if the plugsurfing card arrived quicker?
Is there any option to buy these cards when you arrive in France or indeed any chargers you can use with an App rather than card? Thanks

You'll probably find that the local charging networks in France have an app. Where are you going?

 

[Mr H]

Oh dear we don't have a month! Do you recall if the plugsurfing card arrived quicker?
Is there any option to buy these cards when you arrive in France or indeed any chargers you can use with an App rather than card? Thanks

It probably took a while due to recent restrictions - certainly get a Maingau card as ionity are pretty good over there. Most will use an app but how reliable that will be is an unkown quantity.

I don't recall how long my plugsurfing card took to arrive - get them ordered now and you should be ok

There's nowhere physical to buy them that i am aware of.

 

[Derek25]

Oh dear we don't have a month! Do you recall if the plugsurfing card arrived quicker?
Is there any option to buy these cards when you arrive in France or indeed any chargers you can use with an App rather than card? Thanks

You could try the Alizé app. I've not used it myself but seems to have most of the local networks albeit at a slightly higher cost than if you're signed up for the local network Homepage - Alizé Charge

 

[CMc1]

Check out juicePass. €30 for unlimited charging. Ionity included

 

[markharro]

Thanks for the advice - I have ordered Maingau and plugsurfing cards. Does the former only cover ionity chargers or is it more extensive and its just that it gives cheaper rates using ionity?

 

[Mr H]

Maingau covers other networks but the biggest draw is the half price at IONITY

 

[darkNstormy]

Sorry to ask what might seem an irrelevant question and hijacking the thread, but I figured that people following this will have lots of experience of driving across Europe. ABRP is great at showing a route via chargers for a long road trip, but it would be useful to also get an idea of how much it will cost on tolls via that route. Is there anything that will work it out for you? I need to take some stuff down to the south of Spain and trying to work out if cheaper / easier to get the ferry to Santander (I'm not the best travelling on water!) or to go Eurotunnel and drive the lot.

 

[Mr H]

Calais to Perpignan is about 73 euro

Tolls in France : calculate the price of my journey | Sanef

 

[vitesse]

Mobive and Révéo apps for pay as you go public charging in France have been recommended to me. I expect my Kiwhi card will cover any emergency top-ups I might need but I've installed these apps just in case, but not actually used them yet.

 

[vitesse]

Calais to Perpignan is about 73 euro

Tolls in France : calculate the price of my journey | Sanef

We're going back to France in a fortnight and I'm seriously thinking of getting an automatic toll transponder. It looks like they aren't too expensive and should mean goodbye to faffing around at toll booths.

 

[Mr H]

We're going back to France in a fortnight and I'm seriously thinking of getting an automatic toll transponder. It looks like they aren't too expensive and should mean goodbye to faffing around at toll booths.

I usually get one from here - i've had perfect service form them over the years, never a single issue. I'm about to order a Swiss vignette and German emission sticker.

Maut & Vignetten für 2020 online kaufen | Tolltickets

 

[Gil Kat]

Recently back from France. Bought a Chargemap card but didn’t need to use it. Got by on a combination of superchargers on the toll roads, overnight charging at hotels and granny charging (bought 2 pin adaptor from Tesla SC before going).

A warning on 2-pin plugs for France. The polarity in French sockets can randomly be one way or the other, meaning that your 2-pin adaptor will only work on half of them. Solution is to buy two two-pin adaptors from Tesla with different polarity. Or just keep on trying different sockets til you find one that works.

 

[vitesse]

A warning on 2-pin plugs for France. The polarity in French sockets can randomly be one way or the other, meaning that your 2-pin adaptor will only work on half of them. Solution is to buy two two-pin adaptors from Tesla with different polarity. Or just keep on trying different sockets til you find one that works.

Reasonably new houses should conform to pin a recent assignment standard. I wired mine up accordingly and it worked first time at our friends' place (their house is 5 years old). but it would only take 5 minutes to rewire the plug if I needed to.

 

[mikemillar]

Sorry to ask what might seem an irrelevant question and hijacking the thread, but I figured that people following this will have lots of experience of driving across Europe. ABRP is great at showing a route via chargers for a long road trip, but it would be useful to also get an idea of how much it will cost on tolls via that route. Is there anything that will work it out for you? I need to take some stuff down to the south of Spain and trying to work out if cheaper / easier to get the ferry to Santander (I'm not the best travelling on water!) or to go Eurotunnel and drive the lot.

Motorway map France : preparing your routes on french motorways - ASFA

 

[Jeeves]

Maingau covers other networks but the biggest draw is the half price at IONITY

How do you get a Maingau card? I downloaded the app, but was unable to register because the UK wasn’t a country in the list.

 

[Mr H]

How do you get a Maingau card? I downloaded the app, but was unable to register because the UK wasn’t a country in the list.

You have to sign up on their website

Autostrom-Tarif | MAINGAU Energie