For electric cars too, the price of “fuel” is likely to be steep… The 10% increase in electricity prices, applied since August 1 following the end of the tariff shield, is causing serious concern among electric vehicle (EV) owners. They are now 54% to regret their purchase, according to a YouGov survey carried out for the Danish startup Monta, specialist in the management of charging stations. However, this situation contrasts with the general opinion of the French regarding electricity prices, as 62% of them believe that market prices are not unfair, according to the same survey.
“This regret is partly the result of a lack of transparency and information on the market concerning the price, but also on the supply and accessibility of charging points”, explains Amine Gharby, director France of Monta. The price of recharging varies according to the terminals used, sometimes being able to go from simple to double from one terminal to another, or even more if it is a fast charging terminal. This situation is all the more confusing as the driver sometimes only discovers the final amount of the recharge once the charging time has ended. Cases of this type should, however, gradually disappear, since they will be replaced by billing per kWh. But this price uncertainty can still discourage some users, who would have liked more direct and transparent access to costs.
Also according to the study, accessibility to charging stations is another source of frustration for electric vehicle owners. It is not always easy to access the most advantageous charging point: you have to download a specific application, be a customer of a particular mobility operator, or even own a specific brand of vehicle. It is also difficult to navigate between the different operators, because there is no offer comparator that centralizes prices, unlike traditional service stations.
It is therefore more the tensions on the electricity market and the difficulties of adapting to new consumption patterns that Monta highlights as a brake on the wider adoption of the electric car. In this sense, the company is pleading for more transparency and interoperability between vehicles and terminals in order to facilitate the development of electric mobility in France; an increasingly essential element to ensure the transition to carbon-free mobility.
Despite the gradual enthusiasm and the slow transition to electric, and if the conclusions of the study remain to be qualified, the electric car still encounters obstacles to its generalization. Which can happen even when it’s not for economic reasons: another study published by Bloomberg in 2019 explained that the main motivation for Tesla resales by their owners was… disapproval of the opinions of Elon Musk, the founder of the brand. The reputation of the electric car remains to be done.
