While staying for a week in an area covered by the MobiVE charging network, I noticed prohibitive, discriminatory and staggering pricing with terminals that were not always up to date. Strongly the tariff shield announced by Emmanuel Macron! Ticket.
Meet passionate electromobilists
Fast charging is said to get very expensive, especially on the highway. So what will you think of the pricing for access to the MobiVE network while roaming? On Saturday October 8, 2022, the crews of the eco-driving rally organized by the Automobile Club du Sud-Ouest must meet at Quai Souchet in Libourne.
I am really happy to join them, especially since I have some good comrades and friends among the participants and I already have some ideas for interviews on site. I therefore park my Kia e-Soul on an available terminal, the one located in Cours Tourny, about one kilometer to the right of the meeting place
I know it will be difficult for me to come and unplug my car, but it is thirsty for energy and I am SPF (without a fixed plug) for 7 days. I have read the fee schedule, but I still draw my Chargemap Pass. Roaming, which makes it possible to limit subscriptions, badges and applications, is for me an important right for the benefit of electromobilists. It is this same principle that now makes it possible to reach, for example, an SFR user from an Orange subscription, at no additional cost and without having to synchronise. Otherwise, the 2 interlocutors should each have the card of the same operator to talk to each other.
0.099 euros TTC the minute
Curiosity : MobiVE charges charging per minute on its 22 kW AC terminals. On condition of paying an annual fee of 18 euros, a subscriber will pay his minute 0.022, 0.044 or 0.066 euro including tax depending on the range in which the power of the stream is located: 0-5 kW, 5-15 kW and 15 -22kW. This category of users benefits from an amount capped at 30 euros including tax and a 50% discount over the period from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day.
By using a bank card, the prices per minute rise to 0.033, 0.066 or 0.099 euros per minute respectively. Also increase in the maximum amount of the invoice: 50 euros including tax. But at least there is one. On the other hand, disappearance of the preferential rate for the night.
Roaming users are clearly not welcome. Whatever the recharging power and the times, it’s 0.099 euros including tax per minute, excluding the operator’s commission. And no billing limit. Would we find it normal to pay four times more for bread in a bakery on the pretext of not having a loyalty card or living in another region?
The 22 kW AC is not generalized to all EVs
The Kia e-Soul comes standard with a 7.4 kW AC charger. He is not the only one: many electric cars are in this case. It’s not just the Renault Zoé (22 kW AC) as an electric car to drive in France. Besides, there were none at the ACSO rally.
How many of the 21 cars entered in the event accept 22 kW? Even at the Diamond, now, the 7.4 kW is found. So on the Standard Charge and Super Charge versions of the new Mégane E-Tech, the first also avoiding DC stations.
Acso eco-driving rally: Where are the EVs accepting 22 kW AC?
It takes more than 10 hours to fully charge an empty 64 kWh battery with a 7.4 kW on-board charger on a 22 kW AC MobiVE charger. Especially since the actual flow will hardly exceed 6-6.5 kW. Worse still, if another car plugs into the other T2 socket of the same terminal, the power is divided by 2.
It would therefore take about 22 hours of connection under these conditions. And this, regardless of the power of the charger of the second vehicle. I was able to see it live, by remotely following the progress of the operation with the smartphone application: more than 65 minutes before the shutdown, then 110 minutes around a quarter of an hour later. A second EV had just been plugged in.
Much more expensive than an Ionity motorway station
Let’s calculate: 22 hours, that’s 1,320 minutes, multiplied by 0.099 euros, that’s 130.68 euros! These 130.68 euros are without the commission that the mobility operator receives for roaming. With Chargemap, we go to 0.110 euro per minute, which gives a total bill including tax of 145.20 euros, for approximately 22 hours of immobilization.
For comparison, finding 60 kWh at an Ionity motorway station would cost, including the Chargemap commission 60 x 0.752, or 45.12 euros. One hundred euros saved by being immobilized 20 hours less! And even only 26.16 euros (60 x 0.436) by using the tri-standard 50 kW DC/43 kW AC terminal. In this case, and reasoning a little by the absurd, a slow charge at MobiVE can cost 5.5 times more than a fast charge Ionity!
In the Breton department where I live, and still playing the roaming card, the 60 kWh would have been billed at 16.17 euros. In detail: 15.06 euros (60 x 0.251) to which would be added 1.109 euros for the fixed portion. That is 9 times less than in Libourne. Inevitably, a roaming electromobilist will have the feeling of being taken for a pigeon and noticing these more than 130 additional euros.
Faulty fast terminal…
When I stay in the region, more specifically near the Genétouze circuit, I usually use the tri-standard 50 kW DC/43 kW AC charging station in Saint-Aigulin, which also depends on MobiVE. With an average power of 20 kW, and therefore 180 minutes of connection, it would have cost me 49.86 euros (180 x 0.277).
I use the conditional, because this terminal has had a touch screen out of order since the end of July 2022. And this is not the first time, as evidenced by a comment posted last April on the Chargemap site by a user: “ Failed to charge… Faulty hardware… Touchscreen again, unable to initiate a charge. It is very serious, as I have already said it is the only one for miles. Even Libourne does not have a CCS charge ».
I had read these comments, but I went to see on the spot. I first felt a sense of relief when I read on the screen: ” The terminal is back in service ».
… as I have seen
Well no, exactly! The touch screen was still out of order when I visited Saint-Aigulin on Thursday October 13, 2022. I called the assistance who answered after about ten minutes. The online agent could have unlocked the recharge if I gave him an RFID number, but not the CMP.
Again the conditional, because there is no RFID number on my Chargemap Pass. Solution recommended by my interlocutor: first call the assistance to obtain the code, then again that of MobiVE to trigger the recharge. This last wireless call would probably have to be repeated to stop the operation.
In total, how much time wasted on the phone to finally leave with the battery recharged: 30 minutes? 45? Any further ? Not to mention the effective time of refueling. But damn it, change this screen, if you really want to be credible in a process of supporting the development of electric mobility!
Note that, as we advise on Automobile Propre, I never charge 100% on a direct current terminal.
It’s like a liter of diesel at 5.18 euros
By the way, how much is 145.20 euros per recharge for 100 km? If we retain 400 km of autonomy with the Kia e-Soul, which makes the calculations much easier, that gives 36.30 euros. For comparison, with a diesel version of the same model in an older vintage, users report an average consumption of around 7 liters of diesel per 100 km.
How much would this fuel cost per unit for 7 l at 36.30 euros? Answer: 5.18 euros. In concrete terms, by maintaining billing by the minute, in certain cases, using a 22 kW AC terminal on the MobiVE network would amount to having to pay 5.18 euros per liter of diesel. Is it only me that this shocks!?
Note, according to La Dépêche, a retiree paid 120 euros for just over 15 liters of gasoline at a supermarket gas station north of Toulouse. Or 7.77 euros per litre. In this case, the electric would retain its advantage in use! Admittedly, the energy market is under pressure, but please MobiVE, review your rates and switch to kilowatt-hour billing!
Read also
Is it risky to buy a used electric car?
Who wants to drive electric at these prices?
In concrete terms, my car did not stay for 22 hours at Cours Tourny in Libourne on October 8, 2022, but, rounding off, it was plugged in for 275 minutes, for 20 kWh delivered, and an actual roaming bill of 30 euros. For a consumption of 15 kWh / 100 km, it still gives the 100 kilometers at 22.50 euros. And therefore, in equivalence, a liter of diesel at 3.21 euros.
Less heavy figures, of course, but only because the second car was only connected to the same terminal quite late. Otherwise, we would really be there, at 36 euros for 100 km. At these prices, who wants to drive electric today?
In the end, some of my trips for the week were made with an old Citroën Berlingo diesel! A shame for me, who has been driving electric for 15 years and who has already moved twice to reduce my trips, thinking in this way of contributing to the fight against climate change.
Tariff shield
In an interview with Les Echos, Emmanuel Macron said regarding charging in France: “ Today the prices remain reasonable, we will make sure they remain so “. At 145 euros full of electrons to cover 400 kilometers, we are not being reasonable.
If the services of the President of the Republic could take a look here… and if necessary contact us for any details.
Just before, he had promised: “From from January 2023, we are also going to extend the tariff shield to electrical terminals, to avoid adventures like some of our neighbors “. We provide in this article an example that proves the merits of such a measure. Hoping that MobiVE reworks its copy before this deadline.
While staying for a week in an area covered by the MobiVE charging network, I noticed prohibitive, discriminatory and staggering pricing with terminals that were not always up to date. Strongly the tariff shield announced by Emmanuel Macron! Ticket.
Meet passionate electromobilists
Fast charging is said to get very expensive, especially on the highway. So what will you think of the pricing for access to the MobiVE network while roaming? On Saturday October 8, 2022, the crews of the eco-driving rally organized by the Automobile Club du Sud-Ouest must meet at Quai Souchet in Libourne.
I am really happy to join them, especially since I have some good comrades and friends among the participants and I already have some ideas for interviews on site. I therefore park my Kia e-Soul on an available terminal, the one located in Cours Tourny, about one kilometer to the right of the meeting place
I know it will be difficult for me to come and unplug my car, but it is thirsty for energy and I am SPF (without a fixed plug) for 7 days. I have read the fee schedule, but I still draw my Chargemap Pass. Roaming, which makes it possible to limit subscriptions, badges and applications, is for me an important right for the benefit of electromobilists. It is this same principle that now makes it possible to reach, for example, an SFR user from an Orange subscription, at no additional cost and without having to synchronise. Otherwise, the 2 interlocutors should each have the card of the same operator to talk to each other.
0.099 euros TTC the minute
Curiosity : MobiVE charges charging per minute on its 22 kW AC terminals. On condition of paying an annual fee of 18 euros, a subscriber will pay his minute 0.022, 0.044 or 0.066 euro including tax depending on the range in which the power of the stream is located: 0-5 kW, 5-15 kW and 15 -22kW. This category of users benefits from an amount capped at 30 euros including tax and a 50% discount over the period from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day.
By using a bank card, the prices per minute rise to 0.033, 0.066 or 0.099 euros per minute respectively. Also increase in the maximum amount of the invoice: 50 euros including tax. But at least there is one. On the other hand, disappearance of the preferential rate for the night.
Roaming users are clearly not welcome. Whatever the recharging power and the times, it’s 0.099 euros including tax per minute, excluding the operator’s commission. And no billing limit. Would we find it normal to pay four times more for bread in a bakery on the pretext of not having a loyalty card or living in another region?
The 22 kW AC is not generalized to all EVs
The Kia e-Soul comes standard with a 7.4 kW AC charger. He is not the only one: many electric cars are in this case. It’s not just the Renault Zoé (22 kW AC) as an electric car to drive in France. Besides, there were none at the ACSO rally.
How many of the 21 cars entered in the event accept 22 kW? Even at the Diamond, now, the 7.4 kW is found. So on the Standard Charge and Super Charge versions of the new Mégane E-Tech, the first also avoiding DC stations.
Acso eco-driving rally: Where are the EVs accepting 22 kW AC?
It takes more than 10 hours to fully charge an empty 64 kWh battery with a 7.4 kW on-board charger on a 22 kW AC MobiVE charger. Especially since the actual flow will hardly exceed 6-6.5 kW. Worse still, if another car plugs into the other T2 socket of the same terminal, the power is divided by 2.
It would therefore take about 22 hours of connection under these conditions. And this, regardless of the power of the charger of the second vehicle. I was able to see it live, by remotely following the progress of the operation with the smartphone application: more than 65 minutes before the shutdown, then 110 minutes around a quarter of an hour later. A second EV had just been plugged in.
Much more expensive than an Ionity motorway station
Let’s calculate: 22 hours, that’s 1,320 minutes, multiplied by 0.099 euros, that’s 130.68 euros! These 130.68 euros are without the commission that the mobility operator receives for roaming. With Chargemap, we go to 0.110 euro per minute, which gives a total bill including tax of 145.20 euros, for approximately 22 hours of immobilization.
For comparison, finding 60 kWh at an Ionity motorway station would cost, including the Chargemap commission 60 x 0.752, or 45.12 euros. One hundred euros saved by being immobilized 20 hours less! And even only 26.16 euros (60 x 0.436) by using the tri-standard 50 kW DC/43 kW AC terminal. In this case, and reasoning a little by the absurd, a slow charge at MobiVE can cost 5.5 times more than a fast charge Ionity!
In the Breton department where I live, and still playing the roaming card, the 60 kWh would have been billed at 16.17 euros. In detail: 15.06 euros (60 x 0.251) to which would be added 1.109 euros for the fixed portion. That is 9 times less than in Libourne. Inevitably, a roaming electromobilist will have the feeling of being taken for a pigeon and noticing these more than 130 additional euros.
Faulty fast terminal…
When I stay in the region, more specifically near the Genétouze circuit, I usually use the tri-standard 50 kW DC/43 kW AC charging station in Saint-Aigulin, which also depends on MobiVE. With an average power of 20 kW, and therefore 180 minutes of connection, it would have cost me 49.86 euros (180 x 0.277).
I use the conditional, because this terminal has had a touch screen out of order since the end of July 2022. And this is not the first time, as evidenced by a comment posted last April on the Chargemap site by a user: “ Failed to charge… Faulty hardware… Touchscreen again, unable to initiate a charge. It is very serious, as I have already said it is the only one for miles. Even Libourne does not have a CCS charge ».
I had read these comments, but I went to see on the spot. I first felt a sense of relief when I read on the screen: ” The terminal is back in service ».
… as I have seen
Well no, exactly! The touch screen was still out of order when I visited Saint-Aigulin on Thursday October 13, 2022. I called the assistance who answered after about ten minutes. The online agent could have unlocked the recharge if I gave him an RFID number, but not the CMP.
Again the conditional, because there is no RFID number on my Chargemap Pass. Solution recommended by my interlocutor: first call the assistance to obtain the code, then again that of MobiVE to trigger the recharge. This last wireless call would probably have to be repeated to stop the operation.
In total, how much time wasted on the phone to finally leave with the battery recharged: 30 minutes? 45? Any further ? Not to mention the effective time of refueling. But damn it, change this screen, if you really want to be credible in a process of supporting the development of electric mobility!
Note that, as we advise on Automobile Propre, I never charge 100% on a direct current terminal.
It’s like a liter of diesel at 5.18 euros
By the way, how much is 145.20 euros per recharge for 100 km? If we retain 400 km of autonomy with the Kia e-Soul, which makes the calculations much easier, that gives 36.30 euros. For comparison, with a diesel version of the same model in an older vintage, users report an average consumption of around 7 liters of diesel per 100 km.
How much would this fuel cost per unit for 7 l at 36.30 euros? Answer: 5.18 euros. In concrete terms, by maintaining billing by the minute, in certain cases, using a 22 kW AC terminal on the MobiVE network would amount to having to pay 5.18 euros per liter of diesel. Is it only me that this shocks!?
Note, according to La Dépêche, a retiree paid 120 euros for just over 15 liters of gasoline at a supermarket gas station north of Toulouse. Or 7.77 euros per litre. In this case, the electric would retain its advantage in use! Admittedly, the energy market is under pressure, but please MobiVE, review your rates and switch to kilowatt-hour billing!
Read also
Is it risky to buy a used electric car?
Who wants to drive electric at these prices?
In concrete terms, my car did not stay for 22 hours at Cours Tourny in Libourne on October 8, 2022, but, rounding off, it was plugged in for 275 minutes, for 20 kWh delivered, and an actual roaming bill of 30 euros. For a consumption of 15 kWh / 100 km, it still gives the 100 kilometers at 22.50 euros. And therefore, in equivalence, a liter of diesel at 3.21 euros.
Less heavy figures, of course, but only because the second car was only connected to the same terminal quite late. Otherwise, we would really be there, at 36 euros for 100 km. At these prices, who wants to drive electric today?
In the end, some of my trips for the week were made with an old Citroën Berlingo diesel! A shame for me, who has been driving electric for 15 years and who has already moved twice to reduce my trips, thinking in this way of contributing to the fight against climate change.
Tariff shield
In an interview with Les Echos, Emmanuel Macron said regarding charging in France: “ Today the prices remain reasonable, we will make sure they remain so “. At 145 euros full of electrons to cover 400 kilometers, we are not being reasonable.
If the services of the President of the Republic could take a look here… and if necessary contact us for any details.
Just before, he had promised: “From from January 2023, we are also going to extend the tariff shield to electrical terminals, to avoid adventures like some of our neighbors “. We provide in this article an example that proves the merits of such a measure. Hoping that MobiVE reworks its copy before this deadline.
