Electric Car for guests

We’re still planning our move to France next year and, having narrowed down our preferred area, are starting to think about how we differentiate our accommodation from others. One idea is to make sure we are within easy reach of a TGV station, probably Angouleme, so that we can encourage those who don’t want to fly to visit us using the train. The plan would be to collect them from the station and then, whilst they are holidaying with us, offer them the use of an electric car.

I am aware that electric car sales are on the increase in France, though from quite a low base, and that the charging infrastructure has room for improvement, but I wondered if any forum members had any experience of owning and driving an electric car, particularly in the Charente. We’d hope to have a charging point on our property so that, provided visitors weren’t planning on doing more than 200km a day they wouldn’t need to re-charge whilst they were out.

I’d be interested in any thoughts on how feasible this might be. I know the capital investment would be in the region of €30,000 and that the depreciation, at least in the early years, would be quite high so it is unlikely to pay for itself by charging guests a reasonable premium but might encourage more visitors in the first place.

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I have no experience of electric cars, bit I do have experience of encouraging holidaymakers to travel more sustainably. We are not far from main transport hubs like Lyon and wondered something similar, but with a pick up and electric bikes provided (people tend to come to this area for walking and cycling, not driving around).

In 5 years we have had zero interest. Apart from one woman from New Zealand who flew to Geneva where we picked her up…and french friends with a car joined her later. We do have lots of people who are delighted to have bikes provided, but they arrive in a car.

Good luck.

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You get a 6000€ bonus from the government at the moment I believe if you buy an electric car but that is going down quite soon to 5000 and then down again to 4000 a bit later, acc to the news today on France Inter. Quite what the terms are exactly I don’t know, I was listening with half an ear max.

As far as the French market goes, if you are aiming to attract young couples it might work.
But I think once young couples turn into parents with babies and growing children, the practicalities of lugging baby and toddler and teenage stuff around with them tend to change their priorities. It’s so much easier to chuck everything into the boot, and travelling by car costs the same for a family of 5 as it does for a couple. You only have to look at the queues on motorways at peak holiday times to realise that the French still overwhelmingly take their cars on holiday.
If you’re aiming at international guests, that’s different but presumably they’ll fly-drive…

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An observation that I made last time I spent some time in the Poitou Charente was how many of the towns and villages did have charging points. Personally I can’t see your idea being any more than a gimmick. The cost of buying the car plus the insurance excesses required would be hard to justify for most gite or chambres d’Hotes owners in the Charente where the letting season is not particularly long. If you want to encourage guests to come by train and to use a car for excursions car hire from the supermarkets is very cheap. In some towns it’s possible to hire electric cars as well although 1 don’t know if anywhere around Angoulême offers that service.
When we were last in France my wife and I often used the train but rarely together. For one person rail travel often compared favourably with the same journey in the car for one adult. For two adults it became an expensive luxury and for a family even more so.

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Not really that expensive. I’ve just booked 2 train tickets, return to Paris from la souterraine (23) for the 6 nations in February for €40 each, first class too.:blush:

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I have had a couple of electric vehicles but none recently. My 1996 Renault Clio Electrique & 2001 Citroen Berlingo Electrique just plugged into the house supply.
Not much range but speed was fine!
Creeping up behind road roaming pedestrians was best - made them jump when they looked behind!
renault-clio-electrique-4

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If you have children it is minus 50% under 12 and then from 3 children up you have progressively increasing reductions (5 children - 50%) so my children paid half of half price. If you get a ticket prems or a ouigo it is also v cheap.

Mark, in general from experience we found that travelling by rail was marginally less than taking the car from A-B. Two rail tickets made the train journey almost twice as much as taking the car and children would also be more on top however much discount they get.
I really dislike the way that nearly every post I have made has been questioned by the long standing members. Just like many of my previous posts the information I have given in this thread is a fact. However good you are at maths both Mark’s example and Vero’s actually back up what I said.
I have never felt more unwelcome in any forum ever.

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We regularly travel from Paris to Burgundy it’s much cheaper to travel by car including the toll charges. A round trip by car costs +/- 50 - 60€ if we were paying for 2 people traveling by train it would cost 140€.

@anon14704272
I wasn’t disputing what you say, I imagine most of us drive so we know what the costs are - just saying there’s an alternative. When I go and see my parents it is a 9 hour drive/1000km journey, so sometimes I prefer to do it by train. The péages are fairly expensive and staying overnight costs a fortune if there are 7 of you, certainly more than the train (in my situation).
Obviously if you prefer to drive or you aren’t spending the whole day driving I quite see that taking the train could be considered a superfluous luxury.
I’m sorry you feel unwelcome, I can’t think why you feel like that (but I am not a very sensitive person I’m afraid, especially after a very long day at work).

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Hey come on Mark be fair, that’s booking well in advance. If I can get to the game I’l send you a PM maybe we could meet up for a beer.

The trouble with trains (and planes for that matter) is that - as Dan says - is the price of one ticket always seems to be maybe around the cost of the same journey in a car which means that as soon as two people make the same journey at the same time the car wins hands down.

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Yep, that’s a fair point, but it is a ridiculously cheap price. When I booked the same (for the same game) a couple of years ago, again 3 months in advance it was €69 each.
I’m up for some (more) beer if you can get there.:beer::beer::beer::beer:

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But there isn’t a fixed price for a train journey the way there is for calculating a car trip. It all depends on the day of the week, the type of train (eg TGV or TER) and the ticket - first class, prems, etc etc. The train ticket from here to London varies between 79€ and 360€!l. So it’s a total nonsense to say that one or other is a cheaper way to travel.

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I think you’re absolutely right to consider this - it’s not only about a USP, but also future-proofing your business. Environmental concern is bound to increase and motivate more and more people - and lead to higher taxes, fuel prices, etc, curtailing air travel.
We run a gite complex in Brittany and already have guests coming by electric car, and indeed by bicycle (we are on La Vélodyssée cycle route between the UK and Spain) - we have been gradually ‘greening’ the gites, and our home, over the last 7 years - it is most definitely a selling point already, and I’m sure will become more so in future. The charging infrastructure in Brittany is exemplary, with points in almost every village.
I would though consider buying an electric car for guests secondhand - I happen to be looking for one myself at the moment, obviously up here in Brittany, but just for example one I’ve just seen on the internet is a 5-year-old Renault Zoe Intens, only 63,000km, for 6,900€.

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Maybe not for travel planned in advance, but weekly travel, different days & times is fixed on our TER line. You can get some substantial reductions with a season ticket, but the car in our case works out a lot cheaper & using the car is door 2 door.

Is it hilly where you live ? If so, then all-electric vehicles still suffer big time IMO in terms of autonomy.
Instead of buying such a vehicle, you might consider a long term business lease instead, if you are putting the costs through the business (providing that such a LLD contract is available). The advantage I see with a lease instead of a purchase is that if your guests have a crash and render the vehicle useless, the lease contract will generally offer you a replacement (at least for 15 days).

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Ah Dan dont worry you are not alone in these thoughts. I am thick skinned and also like Vero said I am not a very sensitive person . There are some on this forum who would fight with their own toenails if they could. I ignore the goading from some posters and so should you. Off theme rant over

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Thanks Geof. I think you’re right, people will increasingly start to question the assumption that flying is the best option. As well as environmental concerns I would imagine that governments will put measures in place to encourage people to fly less.

Whilst the comments about the relative costs of driving versus the train are helpful, the other consideration, particularly for visitors from the UK, is the relative cost of the train v flying. Even now, for a family of four coming from the UK the cost of flying even with a low cost airline seems not much cheaper than the train when you take into account the cost of bringing bags as well.

I think a second-hand electric car is a good idea as it would enable us to test the market without the massive outlay for a new car. I’ll also look at the cost of leasing as well.

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