The challenge of charging station installations in condominiums

Gérard's condominium is one of the 2% equipped in France, for around 10.000 places. These figures are still low, despite the right to take in place in 2011, which allows each co-owner to install, at his own expense, a plug for his vehicle.

This lack of private terminals in collective housing remains a major obstacle to the electrification of cars, an essential component in the fight against climate change.

"From the first discussions in the condominium to the first installation, we waited 18 months. But other neighbors followed suit and soon we will have 17 terminals!", Nuances the retiree, who does not wish to give his name, during that two workers from a private installer are working to equip neighboring places.

The installation costs nothing to the condominium: the owners pay for their own terminal, and subsidies cover the rest.

Because, in addition to the individual terminal, it is necessary to finance collective infrastructures, such as cables and sometimes common meters. The financing of this equipment has long been a point of contention for condominiums which, until recently, had to pay for it.

"There is always a fear of some co-owners of having to pay for others, slowing down installation requests", explains Mathias Laffont, director of studies at the French Union of Electricity (UFE). "At present, techniques exist to make users only pay, for a few hundred euros for the purchase of the socket, in addition to the monthly subscription taken out with the operator".

Accelerate this development

Aid exists for owners, condominiums and operators: Logivolt Territoires, launched by the Banque des Territoires, the counter of the Caisse des dépôts, finances all collective expenses; the Advenir system, financed by an annual envelope of public funds and piloted by the National Association for the Development of Electric Mobility (Avere-France), covers half of this.

The many start-ups in the sector, Bornes Solutions, Zeplug or Park'n Plug in the lead, assure it: the demand for equipment in collective housing is booming. They estimate that one million places could be equipped quickly.

The remaining charge for the individual, after the aid, is between 700 and 900 euros, according to them.

But things are still not moving fast enough.

44% of French people live in collective housing but "70% of private terminals are in individual housing", according to Clément Molizon, general delegate of Avere-France.

To accelerate this development, a long-awaited decree should allow Enedis, the electricity network manager, to equip condominiums with charging equipment, without making them pay a single euro, by integrating the costs into the electricity transmission tariff. electricity (turpe). An “unfair competition”, denounce in passing the private installers, gathered behind the French Association of Operators of Recharge for electric vehicles (Afor).

Shortage of staff

Enedis anticipates "thousands, then tens of thousands of new requests, once the decree has been validated", as assured Olivier Huet, infrastructure project manager for charging electric vehicles in collective residential buildings at Enedis. "All solutions are necessary, the market is too large".

Another challenge for operators is the deployment of charging sockets in outdoor private car parks, which require heavier work. "Today it is too expensive for operators and condominiums to bear the cost", explains Lara Dupont, of Zeplug.

Finally, there is the lack of trained personnel, estimated at "several thousand people" by the operators.

“The sector is growing strongly, but we are sorely lacking in manpower,” laments Jérôme Princet, managing director of Bornes Solutions and vice-president of Afor.