The « Chaîne des Puys » goes electric

France, the world's first tourist destination, has to face the arrival of a large number of tourists on its territory, which must however be reconciled with environmental issues. Among the most coveted destinations, the Puy-de-Dôme department welcomes nearly 13 million visitors each year.
In 2019, The French government adopted a mobility orientation law aimed at reducing its CO2 emissions by 37.5% by developing electric vehicles. This objective should be achieved in 2030, but what about in 2024?

Statistical studies concerning the number of vehicles and electric charging infrastructures have highlighted their combined evolution over the last 4 years.
According to this analysis, electric vehicles have continued to increase in Puy-de-Dôme, going from 3 483 in 2020 to 14 461 in 2024. Encouraging figures, nevertheless not very promising when we observe the growth curve of the line diagram.

Evolution of the electric mobility in Puy-de-Dôme, indicating number of electric vehicles and charging ports through the years.

Source : data.gouv.fr

Indeed, Matignon is aiming for a 15% electric vehicle fleet by 2030. Across Puy-de-Dôme, this would represent 107,865 electric cars. Same observation concerning the current 293 charging points, they are still too few compared to the 2186 expected for the next decade.
Electric mobility in Puy de Dôme does exist, but it has only met 13% of its objective yet.

Statistical calculations for 2024 demonstrated a clear correlation between the number of charging infrastructures and the number of electric vehicles. This raises the question of a fair distribution of charging points across Puy-de-Dôme.

If we look at the Puy-de-Dôme cities, we actually notice that there are significant disproportions of electric vehicles. The statistical indicators reveal that half of the municipalities have less than ten cars. Even more surprising, among the remaining municipalities, only a quarter have more than 20 vehicles.
These inequalities can be explained by the demographic and economic nature of certain cities. Among the 14 communities of municipalities composing Puy-de-Dôme, 4 of them have more than 1 000 vehicles and concentrate a maximum of electrical equipment. And for good reason, we find the largest towns in the department there, such as Issoire, Riom and Clermont-Ferrand.
However, they are not always sufficiently equipped to satisfy electric drivers. For example, Clermont-Ferrand, the department’s biggest city, has a ratio of around 55 cars for 1 charging point.

Distribution of electric charging equipment in Puy-de-Dôme, showing number of electric vehicles for each charging point in municipalities in 2024.

Source : data.gouv.fr

Therefore, it seems that municipalities have difficulties equipping themselves to meet the emerging energy needs of their drivers.

Local authorities will have to redouble their efforts to answer the challenges of electric mobility and achieve the 2030 objectives.
Meanwhile, you could try a road trip in an electric car to visit the Chaîne des Puys...