Finding the nearest electric vehicle charging point in France – and eventually right across Europe – is about to get much easier. A number of stakeholder companies, including Renault, electricity company EDF and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), have got together to form GIREVE SA.
Short for Groupement pour l’Itinérance des Recharges Électriques de Véhicules, GIREVE’s remit is to facilitate the use of public-access electric charging stations by making them visible, accessible and compatible for all users.
Operating under the leadership of two French ministries – Transport and Industrial Renewal, Environment and Energy – GIREVE is to establish a shared data management platform for interested parties in electro-mobility to foster the development of EV charging stations.
Among the proposals are regularly updated maps pinpointing their position on GPS devices, smartphones and the internet. The service also will provide information on charge point availability and reservation facilities and will investigate the potential of automatic remote payment so the user simply turns up, plugs in, recharges the battery and then drives away.
Looking on a wider scale, GIREVE will talk to operators outside France with a view to ensuring cross-border travel by EV is as easy as possible. It will also support local authorities and charging infrastructure providers in their projects to ensure equipment and services are compatible with inter-operability standards.