Fastned opens its first fast-charging stations in France

Dutch fast-charging network Fastned has opened on Tuesday its first four fast-charging stations in France. Five more will be opened in the following weeks along the Autoroute du Soleil (A6) and on the route to Switzerland and in the Dijon area. In Belgium, Fastned opened this week its seventh fast-charging station in Aalter.

Fastned won the tender by French highway operator Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône (APRR) to build nine fast-charging stations on the route from Paris to Lyon and from Dijon to Switzerland. The first to become operational are located at Gevrey-Chambertin Ouest (A31, Dijon), Écot (A36, Montbéliard), Pont Chêne d’Argent (A39, Dole) and Pont Val de Saône (A39, Dole). Each station will initially have four 300 kW chargers, eventually expanding to 12 as demand rises.

Since its founding in 2012, Fastned has opened 177 fast-charging stations in the Netherlands, Germany, UK, Belgium, Switzerland, and France. In Belgium, Fastned opened its seventh station in Aalter, on a parking lot along the Knokkebaan, adjacent to the E40 access and exit complex. In Aalter, residents can get a €500 premium from the city when buying an EV at a local dealership.

Belgium: 26 planned

In Belgium, Fastned opened its first charging station at the Ostend Airport in October 2020. The station offers four 300 kW CCS connections and two 50 kW CHAdeMO connections.The others are situated in, Roeselare, Peutie (E19), Everberg (E40) and now Aalter so far.

End of June, Fastned announced it would build six charging stations with a capacity to charge up to sixteen vehicles simultaneously on industrial sites in West-Flanders. It closed a deal with the inter-municipal utility company WVI (West-Vlaamse Intercommunale), which operates these sites.

With financial help of EU

In July, Flemish Minister for Mobility and Public Works Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) granted Fastned ten additional locations along Flemish highways in the BENEFIC framework that foresees 110 new charging stations with the financial help of the EU.

The ten new locations, allocated by the Flemisch Road and Traffic Agency (AWV), are situated directly at entry- and exit ramps along the TEN-T core network in Flanders and/or the Brussels-Capital Region or in its immediate vicinity. The latter is a condition for a maximum of 20% of the investment cost to be subsidized by the EU, in this case for a total of €0,6 million.