French car company Renault isn’t happy with the slow pace of electric vehicle charger deployment in France, so it’s taken matters into its own hands… it is installing electric vehicle chargers around the country that are free to use.

“A century after French tiremaker Michelin issued road signs to help early motorists find their way, Renault and Japanese affiliate Nissan are preparing to hand out charging stations for installation in public spaces,” Laurence Frost and Gilles Guillaume of Reuters write.

“It is not our job to install chargers, but somebody has to kickstart the market,” Thierry Koskas, head of Renault’s electric vehicle program, told Reuters. “This cannot be a long-term policy.”

Right now, the plan is for the company to install 1,000 fast chargers, at a price of about €5,000 ($6,300) each. Most of the chargers will be in France, but some will be in other countries.

“The freebies will go to car parks, supermarkets and other high-visibility public spaces under private ownership.”

For more, check out: Renault backs electric cars with free chargers.

Zachary Shahan (2359 Posts)

I'm the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and Planetsave, a leading green and science news site. I've been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and I've been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicycling, and wind energy for the past few years. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Think Progress, GE's ecomagination site, several sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. To connect on some of your favorite social networks, go to zacharyshahan.com or click on some of the links below.