PARIS (Reuters) – French power company Engie said on Thursday it is launching a new brand called Vianeo which will form part of its push into the potentially fast-growing sector of building charging points for electric cars.
Engie said the Vianeo brand would be rolled out to an initial 1,000 charging points already in operation throughout France, and that by 2025, Engie hoped to have 11,000 extra Vianeo electric charging points in France.
France has been catching up with other European nations in its goal to become a hub for the electric vehicle industry, as many governments around the world look to wean people off older combustion engines to protect the environment.
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Friday, partly to promote France as a possible site for one of the electric vehicle (EV) maker’s factories.
Carmakers say that in return for the hundreds of billions of dollars they are spending on electrification, Britain and the European Union should focus on building infrastructure to encourage more people to buy electric vehicles and give them the confidence they can find somewhere affordable to recharge.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Kim Coghill)
