Grenoble-Alpes (FR)

Grenoble-Alpes Métropole (GAM) is a metropolis gathering 49 municipalities and 450,000 inhabitants at the centre of a commuting area of 700,000 inhabitants. Due to its specific location surrounded by mountains and at the crossroad of three valleys, GAM has to manage important traffic congestion issues and air pollution.

There are around 5.500 EVs in GAM in 2022 and the public charging point network consists of 171 charging points, distributed between the road network, park and ride facilities and underground car parks, providing slow and medium power. Fast charging stations are developed by private operators. There are apps to find and pay for a charging station.

Partners involved:

Current problems related to charging in the area

More charging stations are needed but there are constraints due to the grid and electricity supply, availability of public space and the high cost of grid connection and the charging station itself. There is no booking service available and interoperability is a barrier. Misbehaviour of some EV drivers is a problem, as they stay plugged when the charge is complete, and misbehaviour of some ICE (petrol/diesel) car drivers too, who park on charging stations’ parking spaces.

Short description of the demonstrations

  • Implementation of the Smart Charging System by CEA, to optimise charging of each vehicle plugged at a charging point according to the user needs offering tangible benefits to the user, which will enable the installation of more charging points per available grid power and the use of locally produced renewable energies.
    • Experimental installation of charging points on lamp posts
    • Evaluation of different tariff schemes on utilisation
    • Installation of new charging stations