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The lack of available charging infrastructure is currently one of the main obstacles to the deployment of electric vehicles. To remove this obstacle, the Energy Transition Act adopted in August 2015 sets a particularly ambitious target. It calls for the installation of at least 7 million charging points by 2030. To achieve this, companies with parking facilities for their employees will be asked to contribute.
What's the current situation for electric vehicles?
According to data provided by the Association nationale pour le développement de la mobilité électrique (AVERE), almost 100,000 electric vehicles have been registered in France since 2010. This figure includes passenger cars, commercial vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
For these 100,000 vehicles on the road in France, around 122,000 charging points were available at the end of December 2016.
Charging stations in the workplace already account for the majority of the existing fleet. As of January1, 2017, the French Energy Transition Act has further strengthened the obligations incumbent on companies to equip their parking lots with recharging infrastructure when work is carried out.
What are companies' obligations before 2017?
Until the end of 2016, only companies operating enclosed and covered parking lots serving tertiary buildings were concerned by the obligation to equip part of their parking spaces with infrastructure for recharging electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.
For parking lots in new buildings for which planning permission was applied for between January1, 2012 and December 31, 2016, 10% of spaces had to be electrically connected so that they could later accommodate a charging point for electric or rechargeable hybrid vehicles. This pre-cabling requirement involved laying cable ducts or cable trays from the low-voltage main switchboard (TGBT). It was intended to facilitate the subsequent installation of a charging point, but not to impose its installation.
By January 1, 2015, owners of existing parking lots in office buildings built before 2012 were required to equip at least 10% of parking spaces in urban areas with over 50,000 inhabitants, and 5% in other areas. This obligation only applied to enclosed and covered parking lots with a capacity of more than 20 spaces in urban areas with more than 50,000 inhabitants, and 40 spaces in other cases.
What are the obligations as of 2017?
Since the beginning of 2017, the obligation to provide charging infrastructure has been extended to open-air parking lots. And this applies regardless of the use of the buildings served, whether tertiary or industrial.
For the creation or extension of parking lots in new buildings for which planning permission is requested on or after January1, 2017, 10 to 20% of parking spaces for motor vehicles and motorized two-wheelers must be electrically pre-wired to accommodate a recharging point. The percentage of spaces to be connected depends on the total capacity of the new or extended parking lot: 10% up to 40 parking spaces, 20% above that.
The minimum power rating of the charging infrastructure is 22 kW. This power can be adjusted between 7.4 and 22 kW if certain charging points can be powered by local renewable energy production or storage facilities. This applies in particular to photovoltaic charging stations.
In addition, where work is carried out on an existing parking lot (without the construction of new buildings), the client is now obliged to equip part of the parking spaces with recharging infrastructures. A decree has yet to specify the conditions of application of this measure for existing parking lots, depending in particular on the nature and size of the buildings and parking lot concerned, the type of work undertaken, and the ratio between the cost of this work and the value of the buildings. The decree will also set the minimum number of parking spaces to be provided, and the conditions for exemptions in the event of technical impossibility or constraints linked to the building's natural environment.
What technical requirements must be met?
The technical requirements for the installation of recharging points, including on a voluntary basis at the company's initiative, are now regulated:
- Any charging point installed or replaced since March1, 2017 enabling the transfer of electricity to an electric vehicle at a power less than or equal to 22 kW, must have at least a type 2 socket base or connector. Type 2 plugs are now the European standard for charging at less than 22 kW[1].
- Charging points must be installed by a professional holding an electrical qualification and the IRVE qualification issued by QUALIFELEC , attesting to his or her competence to install charging infrastructures for electric vehicles.
- The electrical installation must comply with safety requirements. In particular, it must have a dedicated circuit for each charging point. A residual current device (RCD) rated at 30mA or less is also required for this circuit.
What assistance is available for installing an electric vehicle charging point in a company parking lot?
As part of the energy-saving certificate scheme, the ADVENIR program aims to promote the installation of 12,000 charging points by the end of 2018. Coordinated by AVERE, EcoCO2 and EDF, the project funder. This program enables any company to benefit from up to 40% aid for the installation of a recharging point accessible to the electric vehicles of its own fleet or its employees, subject to compliance with the requirements of a technical specification and up to a limit of €1,360 excluding VAT per recharging point.
Should employers cover their employees' electricity fuel costs?
Regulations do not require employers to provide free electricity to employees who connect their personal vehicles to the charging stations provided in the company parking lot.
However, this possibility is provided for in the French Labor Code[2], which states that employers may not only cover the costs incurred by employees in powering their electric or rechargeable hybrid vehicles, but also allow these vehicles to be recharged at the workplace.
Employees eligible for this benefit in kind are :
- those whose habitual residence or place of work is outside the Ile-de-France region and an urban transport perimeter,
- or those for whom the use of a personal vehicle is essential due to working hours.
In addition, the employer's contribution to the cost of powering electric vehicles incurred by employees cannot be combined with its contribution to the cost of public transport season tickets.
Last but not least, when the employer decides to cover the cost, it is exempt from URSSAF social security contributions. There is a limit of €200 per year per employee. This can already enable an employee using an electric vehicle to cover up to 10,000 km per year. For your information, €2 of electricity currently covers an average distance of 100 km.
In conclusion on the introduction of electric vehicles in the workplace
While it is doubtful that the number of charging points available in 2030 will actually reach 7 million[3], the legal framework now in place demonstrates, if proof were needed, the public authorities' determination to involve companies in the pursuit of this objective and to accelerate the development of electric mobility for employees.
[1] There are three technical levels of recharging power, corresponding broadly to the powers available with installations sized for 16, 32 and 63 amperes, i.e. :
- 16 A single-phase = 3.7 kVA or 7 kVA, considered as "standard normal recharging".
- 32 A three-phase = 22 kVA for "normal accelerated recharging
- 63 A three-phase = 43 kVA for "fast charging" in AC or DC.
[2] C. Labour Code, Article L. 3261-3
[3] To reach the target of 7 million charge points installed by 2030, an average of almost 500,000 charge points will need to be installed every year. By way of comparison, in 2016, 41,000 new charge points were installed. This already represented an increase of +50%.