Electric car charging in France and electricity tariffs

Cars / Motoring / Insurance
#1

I wasn’t sure of the best section to post this in but as there is a focus on charging our electric car I though here might be as good as any.

This morning EDF is fitting a Linky smart meter to our rented home. We’re renting in France while we look for a house to buy and live in permanently (South Vendée, possibly Over the border in Deux Sevres, maybe also s bit further south in Charente Maritime).

We drive an electric car and it’s been happily charging off a socket in the stone shed attached to the house. But we’re currently on the standard dual tariff (Pleine/Creuse) and there is only about 4 cents difference per kWh for the off-peak rate.

Last month about 60% of our electricity was for charging the car, though we did drive over 2,000 miles (house hunting!). But the bulk of heating the house when it gets really cold this winter will be via electronic wall heaters. The hot water is also from electric immersion heating. We have a small wood burner but this will only supplement the electric heating, not replace it.

So I’m on the look out for a better tariff with the above in mind. I realise the domestic energy market here is nowhere near as competitive as in the UK, but if anyone has any suggestions for better value electricity I’d be most grateful.

Happy to chat about public car charging and anything else about EVs as well :+1:

1 Like
#2

I’m with Mint Energie and I’m very happy with them. I like that the energie is green, they plant a couple of trees in Haiti when you join and I’m saving I think it is €12 / month. If you decide to go with them let me know and I have a code to get you some money off.

You can also check out comparison sites where you will get a list of all available providers and costs.

#3

Sounds good - do you know the tariff rates? Which comparison site do you recommend?

#4

I believe EDF have an EV charging tariff.

#5

OK, I’ll try to find out about that. Engie had been recommended to me.

#6

As you are renting the property you will presumably need the consent of the property owner to change the electricity supply arrangements, so probably good to check with the owner before you go too far.

#7

I thought that too but the letting agent says it’s completely our responsibility. Our Linky meter was installed on Wednesday. I mentioned this as a courtesy in advance to the landlord and he didn’t seem very interested. Apart from the meter, we’re not making any electrical changes to the house. We will probably fit an EV charge point to our ownhouse once we’ve bought one though.

#8

If the Vehicle Charging accounts for 60% of your electricity usage… are you plugging it in to charge during Cheap Rate… ???

#9

Of course but it’s barely 4c/kWh cheaper. On the other hand 2000 miles worth of driving our big Tesla has only cost us about 100 Euros :+1: But at our house in the UK it would have been nearly half that.

#10

Ah… comparing countries can throw up all sorts of differences …

Hope you find what you are seeking… there’s lots of choice.

#11

Free electricity?!:hushed::thinking:

Well that’s interesting. We arrived at our rented home on 1st October. My calculation is that the electricity we used amounted to just over €200 (around half for charging the car) worth during October.

We had our Linky meter fitted on 3rd November. We’ve just had a bill for €40-odd so we queried it with EDF and they say that’s the standing charge and that there is no outstanding charge for electricity because the Linky meter was fitted.

Signed: Jaw Dropped of the Vendée

PS I’ll believe it when it’s reconfirmed!:sweat_smile: