The appearance of the electric car almost everywhere in the world, especially in Europe, obviously opens the door to new profitable activities, starting with the business of charging stations.

With ambitions to go from 120,000 to 400,000 terminals by 2030France is now establishing itself as a major player in electric mobility in Europe.

There are more and more players in the market

This boom is not the result of chance. Stimulating measures, such as financial support from the state, the end of sales of thermal models in 2035 and the obligation to install charging stations in parking lots of a certain capacity, attract more and more investors. Clément Molizon, director of the National Association for the Development of Electric Mobility (Avere), emphasizes that “France is one of the leading countries in the development of electric mobility in Europe”.
The competitive landscape is constantly evolving with multiple players. Energy companies such as TotalEnergies and EDF, car manufacturers such as Tesla and Ionity (a consortium of, among others, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen and Ford), as well as specialist startups such as Powerdot, Electra, ZePlug, Driveco and FastNed compete for the market. Each player targets certain segments, from main roads to parking lots of shopping centers and condominiums. Sometimes this creates a rather difficult situation for users, especially in terms of subscriptions.

How to stand out?

Tesla stands out with its network of Superchargers, the largest in the country. However, French startups like Electra, which recently raised €304 million, are showing their ability to compete. Because of the colossal investment required (around half a million euros per location), the road to profitability is long, but the potential for growth remains huge, and industry workers understand this well.
Aurelien de Mau, founder of Electra, emphasizes the importance of innovation in this sector. His company, with a team of dedicated engineers, aims to revolutionize the charging experience offering solutions such as reserving the terminals via a mobile app and instantly starting charging as soon as the car is connected to the power grid.

France, Eldorado charging station

” It is the most competitive market in Europe“, explains Mathieu Dischamp, CEO of the French company Powerdot, a Portuguese company specializing in the installation of terminals in premises belonging to businesses and services. The latter has raised a new fund of 100 million euros and aims to install 15,000 terminals in Europe by 2025, including 8,000 in France. “At the end of 2020, there were 13 players in the French market, three of which shared 95% of the market. Today there are more than 100 of them, about fifteen of which share three quarters of the market.”continues Mathieu Dischamp.

Again on Thursday, New Zealand manager Morrison and EDF signed an agreement that provides installation of 8,000 fast charging stations by 2030 in Francealmost twice the existing fleet.

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