McDonald’s France to offer fast electric car charge points

Electric car charging points are set to be available at McDonald’s fast food chain restaurants across France after the US giant signed a partnership with French electricity company EDF.

There will be 2,000 charging points in the car parks of 700 McDonald’s restaurants by 2025 (about half the McDonald’s in France).

The rollout has already begun, starting with Noisy-le-Grand on the outskirts of Paris.

The points will be provided by Izivia - the electric vehicle charging subsidiary of EDF - and financed by the Siloé Infrastructure fund from Crédit Mutuel, the companies confirmed in a statement on Tuesday, November 21.

Each charging station will offer 150 kilowatts of power, meaning that they will be ‘fast charge’. They will be capable of recharging most electric cars to 80% of their charge capacity in 20 minutes, or “the time it takes to have a coffee or a meal”, the statement said.

How much will the charging points cost?

The cost to use the points is subject to final confirmation, but the companies have said that it will be “attractive” and competitive.

Le Figaro reports that the cost will likely be between 35 cents per kW, or around €5-€6 per 100km of driving autonomy (this compares to €2-€3 for an at-home charger). Users will be able to pay using a bank card, with fobs from different operators, or via a QR code on their smartphone.

Christelle Vives, managing director of Izivia, said: "[This confirms] the company's ambition to be a leader in fast charging, for the benefit of all drivers of electric cars, not just in major cities, but by guaranteeing coverage of the whole country.”

‘The lowest-possible CO2 levels’

She added that the charging points will be “supplied by green energy (wind power, solar panels, hydroelectricity) to guarantee the lowest-possible CO2 levels”.

Ms Vives said that over 12 years - the length of the Izivia-McDonald’s partnership - the charging stations will provide an estimated 9.4 billion km worth of power, saving 1.7 million tonnes of CO2.

“The expansion of charging points in our restaurant car parks will encourage individual efforts and contribute to an ecological and energy transition tailored to local needs,” said Rémi Rocca, a director at McDonald's France.

McDonald's has not only begun installing the charging points in France; it has also begun equipping its car parks in Italy, Sweden and the UK.

More charging points…but lack of ‘fast charge’

The French government has moved to increase the country’s coverage of electric charging points over the past four years, and now has more than 110,000 public points installed nationwide, show figures from the Avere barometer (which publishes an inventory of charging points).

Read more: France hits 100,000 electric car chargers - but will they be used?

The government’s latest loi d’orientation des mobilités (the mobility act, LOM) now requires businesses with more than 20 car parking spaces in their car park to install at least one charging point. The government has also said that it is aiming for there to be 400,000 public charging points by 2030.

McDonald’s is not the only major brand working to install more points; supermarket giant Carrefour has also said it plans to install 5,000 points for its clients by 2025, and will give its loyalty card holders free power for the first hour at 22 kW (enough to charge a third of a battery of a small car such as a Renault Zoe).

Similarly, the hotel chain B&B has said it plans to install 300 charging points, and will offer clients a choice between slow charging (ideal for guests staying overnight), or fast charging (for those who are just passing through).

At present only 10% of French charging points are fast-charging (over 150 kW), and most of these are at motorway service areas. ‘Regular/low-speed’ charging points vary between 3.7 and 22kW, and can take many hours to charge a vehicle.

Read more: Driving in France: Is it time to switch to an electric car?
Read more: Driving in France: Readers’ views on switching to electric

The charging station landscape is likely to continue changing and increasing, however, as electric cars become more popular in France. In October 2023, they represented 17% of new vehicle purchases.

Electricity provider TotalEnergies has already installed charging points at 190 service stations across the country, and is planning to expand to 500 sites by 2026.

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