Charging your electric car in Paris will no longer cost twice as much as a full tank of fuel

Total Energies, the owner of Paris charging network Belib, has just taken a radical decision: to lower prices. This drop follows the charges caused by the recent price increase. The reason: charging electric cars costs about twice as much as a full tank of fuel.

On January 3, 2023, TotalEnergies, the operator of Belib’ charging stations installed in Paris and the Paris region, made a very questionable decision. The French oil giant announced a massive increase in the price of loading at Belib terminals.

At that time, we calculated that refueling the Tesla Model 3 Long Autonomy costs between 32 and 56 euros, depending on the power of the terminal used (7 or 50 kW). This is huge, as the cost per 100 km was 18 euros, compared to almost half that of a diesel car at the time.

Big drop in charge price in Paris

Fortunately, TotalEnergies has just announced a significant reduction in Belib tariffs. Thus, the maximum speed to charge the Tesla Model 3 Grande Autonomie increases around 40 euros in slow terminals At 7 kW and 22 euros on a 50 kW terminal (The equivalent of a Tesla Supercharger). The price remains high at the 7 kW terminal, but it also includes 7 hours of visitor parking. And for the price of parking in Paris, it’s a borderline bargain.

Tariffs for non-resident subscribers and resident subscribers further weakened and decreased. For example, for residential subscribers, 7 kW slow terminals are more affordable. Thus, the price per kWh changes from €0.55 to €0.35, and the quarterly price from €0.60 to €0.35 during the day. The latter can even do it drops to €0.05 in the middle of the night.

What about Charge your Tesla Model 3 Grand Autonomy for around 15 euros during off-peak hours of the night (from 11:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.). So this is great news for electric car owners in Ile-de-France. Because at this price The price of 100 km is about 5 euros. Therefore, it is much cheaper than driving a thermal car, be it petrol or diesel.

Uncomfortable decisions

But these two extreme price adjustments within a few days do not give the electric car a very good image. Under these conditions, it is really difficult to foresee the price of an electric car and the profit that can be made from it compared to a thermal car. But let’s not forget that gasoline and diesel prices change every day. The uncertainty is therefore even greater on the thermal side.

However, it should be noted that this situation is not specific to Belib’ and therefore TotalEnergies. Most charging network operators have changed their kWh price in recent months, especially due to the energy crisis. This is especially the case for Tesla, whose prices are changing almost every week now.

Refill prices are too high

We imagine that an American producer has entered into a wholesale contract with tariffs that vary weekly according to the price of electricity. Tesla then changes the price to the end consumer, to best reflect the cost of electricity.

Conversely, some operators have decided not to change their prices, such as Electra, which has kept its tariff at €0.44 per kWh until January 16. Since that date, the price of kWh has increased to 0.54 euros. Compare to €0.69 at Ionity or less than €0.40 at Tesla Superchargers.

One last small clarification: with home charging and taking into account the regulated electricity tariff as of February 1, 2023 (€0.2 per kWh), the cost of 100 km of an electric car is about 3.5 euros.

If you want to get acquainted with the full tariffs of the Belib network, the operator has updated the tariff network on its website.

According to a report by France Strategy, an electric car is much cheaper than a thermal car. And this is even though its purchase price is higher and electricity has recently increased …
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