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Third party charging in France
- Thread starter Dan77
- Start date
I found the Kiwhi card very useful (Auchan carparks mostly). Lidl has a lot of chargers that are free to use in their carparks. There is also Sodetrel/Izivia which is an EDF scheme. The house I was staying in had a 50kW charger near it, in a car park in the middle of nowhere, but the EDF card didn't arrive before I left home.
Lots of multi-stories also had charge points and if you ask the attendant, they often have a card you can use.
Because there is no earth on plug sockets, plugging into a standard wall outlet might not work if the positive and negative are the 'wrong' way around. I had to try 4 different sockets in the house we were in before one worked.
Lots of multi-stories also had charge points and if you ask the attendant, they often have a card you can use.
Because there is no earth on plug sockets, plugging into a standard wall outlet might not work if the positive and negative are the 'wrong' way around. I had to try 4 different sockets in the house we were in before one worked.
vitesse
Active Member
I got confused about the French Type E plug/socket terminals - it's the ambiguity of the live and neutral connections; there is of course an earth but unlike the Type F schuko design used in other European countries, where the earth connects even if the plug is inserted 180 degrees (which is needed if the live and neutral are the other way around), the Type E can only be fitted one way around because of the off-set earth pin. Someone else here has indicated that France has tried to standardise on which pins are live and neutral, so new-builds should be consistent. It sounds like the house you stayed in might have been wired up prior to this (over 15 years or so ago?).
No reply from my email sent on Monday so far - did they take long to respond? Bit concerned I will run out of time to receive the card as we'll be travelling in just over two weeks time. Did you have to pay anything for the card?
vitesse
Active Member
The KiWhi card via EasyTrip looks ideal and their map shows lots of Type 2 charge points in the area we will be driving around.
I received a reply to my email this morning and they advised my to purchase one of the two options using a special postal address they provided and to follow-up with an email providing them with my own postal address to send the card on to. This is a stop-gap while they set up a more friendly way for residents outside of France to order cards.
The two options are for an annual subscription of 24 Euros which includes a few extras like a peage transponder badge and a lower (35 cents vs 70 cents) per charge connection fee, while the non-subscription card costs 19 Euros. I don't need the extras so just went for the cheaper card. It's really only for emergencies anyway.
Looking at the charge point locations in the area we will be staying it looks like slow to medium charging (for me - up to 7 or 11kW) will be 20 cents per kWh but there are some odd prices that appear to be based on a price per hour - I need to study these a bit more.
The reckon my card should be posted within 3 working days, plenty of time to reach me before we leave on the 14th Feb.
Meanwhile, I've emailed [email protected] to ask if a France/Germany UMC adapter is available to order in the UK plus price. I think this would be the safest option because if I make a cable up for the 32A Commando UMC adapter I'd need to remember to limit the current setting to 16 or even 13A as the default would be 32A. But I'm not paying silly money for one and I'd need to make an extension lead whatever that would also act as a polarity reverser if required.
I received a reply to my email this morning and they advised my to purchase one of the two options using a special postal address they provided and to follow-up with an email providing them with my own postal address to send the card on to. This is a stop-gap while they set up a more friendly way for residents outside of France to order cards.
The two options are for an annual subscription of 24 Euros which includes a few extras like a peage transponder badge and a lower (35 cents vs 70 cents) per charge connection fee, while the non-subscription card costs 19 Euros. I don't need the extras so just went for the cheaper card. It's really only for emergencies anyway.
Looking at the charge point locations in the area we will be staying it looks like slow to medium charging (for me - up to 7 or 11kW) will be 20 cents per kWh but there are some odd prices that appear to be based on a price per hour - I need to study these a bit more.
The reckon my card should be posted within 3 working days, plenty of time to reach me before we leave on the 14th Feb.
Meanwhile, I've emailed [email protected] to ask if a France/Germany UMC adapter is available to order in the UK plus price. I think this would be the safest option because if I make a cable up for the 32A Commando UMC adapter I'd need to remember to limit the current setting to 16 or even 13A as the default would be 32A. But I'm not paying silly money for one and I'd need to make an extension lead whatever that would also act as a polarity reverser if required.
vitesse
Active Member
I'm using UMC Gen-1
I guess a Gen-2 (the whole thing, not just the adapter) would work on a any UK/European Model S? As far as the car is concerned it's basically a Type 2 connection?
I guess a Gen-2 (the whole thing, not just the adapter) would work on a any UK/European Model S? As far as the car is concerned it's basically a Type 2 connection?
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I got a reply next day seeking clarity on which card I required. Since then it’s gone quiet. They do cards for the peage too.
vitesse
Active Member
I posted an update, hopefully my card is on its way early next week.
vitesse
Active Member
I have emailed Tesla yesterday with the same question. This is the response so far:
Thank you for contacting [email protected]
We are working on your parts request and will aim to answer your query as soon as possible.
Operating hours: Monday – Friday 08:00 -17:30
vitesse
Active Member
vitesse
Active Member
mikemillar
Member
I just came back from France, where I used my Chargemap pass for the first time. There are lots of quite slow chargers around and the ones I used, just for a small topup out of curiosity, were 11kW, costing about 20 cents per kW - 0.04 euros per minutes, 5 minutes per kWh charge rate. Don't forget to take your own Type 2 cable, they have no cables.
I'm going to Pic du Midi next week and there are no Superchargers between Pau and Toulouse so it's marginal, particularly with temperatures sub-zero, high altitude and phantom drain etc. There's an 11kW chargers in Bagnères-de-Bigorre where we're staying, with free charging after 9.00pm, and a restaurant just across the street which says open until 2.00am - think we're going to have to suffer some very leisurely late diners, as is normal in France
I'm going to Pic du Midi next week and there are no Superchargers between Pau and Toulouse so it's marginal, particularly with temperatures sub-zero, high altitude and phantom drain etc. There's an 11kW chargers in Bagnères-de-Bigorre where we're staying, with free charging after 9.00pm, and a restaurant just across the street which says open until 2.00am - think we're going to have to suffer some very leisurely late diners, as is normal in France
mikemillar
Member
Apart from Superchargers and friends house supplies I've used nothing but the free Auchan chargers with ChaDeMO and KiWhi card for the last 5 years. Never had any problem and works well, but only one charger at each location.
There's s slightly involved process for getting a card unless you're a French resident Kiwhi Pass for our foreign users - Easytrip
It also helps if you understand a bit of french when navigating the website, but Google Translate is my friend
Unless you do a lot of trips, go for the Offer à l'act option. It's a one off 19 euro charge and no monthly charge.
If you don't have a UMC2, you can get some excellent leads made up that address the French polarity issue.
I used Tough Leads and not only are their leads great quality but their prices I think are very reasonable.
I used Tough Leads and not only are their leads great quality but their prices I think are very reasonable.
vitesse
Active Member
Apart from Superchargers and friends house supplies I've used nothing but the free Auchan chargers with ChaDeMO and KiWhi card for the last 5 years. Never had any problem and works well, but only one charger at each location.
There's s slightly involved process for getting a card unless you're a French resident Kiwhi Pass for our foreign users - Easytrip
It also helps if you understand a bit of french when navigating the website, but Google Translate is my friend
Unless you do a lot of trips, go for the Offer à l'act option. It's a one off 19 euro charge and no monthly charge.
I found the KiWhi people very helpful via email - they told me what to do (register online using what appeared to be their office address and then you email them your postal address so they can post it to you). In fact I am just about to activate the card ready for our trip next week.
I've made up my own 5m extension lead that connects to the UMC (1st-gen) 32A commando adapter. I've wired it to the relatively new 'official' polarity as our friends' house is only 4 years old and, in theory, the socket polarity should respect the new standard. But if not, it will take 5 minutes to rewire the plug. The cable and Schuko E/F plug, plus 32A connector socket came to about £15.
And yes I do know that with the 32A adapter I will need to dial back the current setting in the car
vitesse
Active Member
@mikemillar Quick question about the free chargers - are these only at Auchan hypermarkets and are there free AC chargers there as well? I've also heard you just plug in - no need to use the card at these? Sounds a bit weird!
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