Charging in france

[james_scott22]

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know any good apps/sites for attempting to plan charges if travelling in France?

[Goaty]

I’m usually only in France for half an hour, before reaching Belgium and continuing East!

But we are planning on heading to the South this summer - first time in the Enyaq.

Personally, I’m planning to rely on Ionity all the way there and back. There appear to be plenty along the route and as I extended my Skoda PowerPass subscription by another year (for £120), I understand that will save quite a bit off the Ionity standard rate. It certainly did last summer when we headed to Poland, and does all around the UK

There were two or three active forum members based in France, so hopefully you’ll get (or we’ll both get!) some feedback from those with local knowledge.

[Powerstar]

By all accounts the ChargeMap app and card are useful to have around mainland Europe. I have the card but not yet used as a backup to the PowerPass card.

https://chargemap.com/

[HarryHuk]

I mainly used ChargeMap for charging last summer, in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Good for nearly everything.
Being new, and unsure, for good measure I also got Shell ReCharge, KiWhiPass (a prepay which I'm told works everything in France) and Izivia EDF), but didn't really need them.
I got PowerPass in December for the Ionity rates. With that and ChargeMap as a backup, you'll be fine.

For route planning, nothing beats ABRP, although for navigation I use the built in or Google maps over android auto.

[james_scott22]

Thanks Harry. What is ABRP?

I mainly used ChargeMap for charging last summer, in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Good for nearly everything.
Being new, and unsure, for good measure I also got Shell ReCharge, KiWhiPass (a prepay which I'm told works everything in France) and Izivia EDF), but didn't really need them.
I got PowerPass in December for the Ionity rates. With that and ChargeMap as a backup, you'll be fine.

For route planning, nothing beats ABRP, although for navigation I use the built in or Google maps over android auto.

[Goaty]

It’s an app called “A Better Route Planner”. A lot of people swear by it.

I also use ChargeMap abroad but only for locating chargers along the route and using it to set the sat nav destination to the next charger. I found their actual charging rates to be quite high though (you can get a ChargeMap RFID card to use at compatible charge stations).

[HarryHuk]

Thanks Harry. What is ABRP?

A Better Route Planner

https://abetterrouteplanner.com/

[HarryHuk]

It’s an app called “A Better Route Planner”. A lot of people swear by it.

I also use ChargeMap abroad but only for locating chargers along the route and using it to set the sat nav destination to the next charger. I found their actual charging rates to be quite high though (you can get a ChargeMap RFID card to use at compatible charge stations).

Yeah, the ChargeMap subscription is just a one off fee for the card I think, so you don't get cheap rates.
Now I have PowerPass Charge Faster, ChargeMap is my backup.

[alexvs]

I'm off to the north of France in August so would it be worthwhile signing up to PowerPass for a month for just that week long trip? Is there a minimum term on the subscription or can I simply sign up for a month on Charge Faster and then stop it? Can't see T's & C's on the website.

[HarryHuk]

I'm off to the north of France in August so would it be worthwhile signing up to PowerPass for a month for just that week long trip? Is there a minimum term on the subscription or can I simply sign up for a month on Charge Faster and then stop it? Can't see T's & C's on the website.

I don't know if you can sign up for a month and then cancel, I would suspect not. I did a spreadsheet to work out the break even point of charge faster based on the full ionity rate, and the charge faster rate, and my kWh/100km, over 12 months.