Have you ever noticed? The cost at a gas station for 100 km by car

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Since December 2020, some gas stations have been able to display fuel prices in €/100 km, in addition to the traditional display in €/L^[1]. This list includes common fuels derived from petroleum products, such as E10 gasoline and B7 diesel. But it also includes the prices for alternative energy sources : electricity, hydrogen, LPG, or compressed natural gas. Of these four alternative energy sources, it’s worth noting that only the first is low-carbon in France. In fact, LPG and natural gas are fossil fuels, and hydrogen is still overwhelmingly produced from—you guessed it—natural gas as well.

This new labeling requirement stems from a European directive and would apply to only the largest stations—about 10% of the nearly 11,000 stations in France According to Francis Pousse, president of the fuel distributors’ association within the CNPA (National Council of Automotive Professionals), who was interviewed by BFM TV last January^[2].

The purpose of this display is to provide consumers with clear information that allows for easy comparison of different forms of energy for cars^[3]. The assumptions used in the calculations could be discussed at length, but they have the merit of being transparent; the Ministry of Energy Transition has even made the Excel file used for the calculations available^[4]. They are based on the fuel consumption of the best-selling vehicles and observed energy prices^[1]. It should be noted, however, that the price of electricity reflects home charging (the most common scenario for electric car users), which is quite different from charging at a gas station (which is significantly more expensive) or at a public “fast-charging” station ” (which is sometimes completely free and quite often charged at modest rates).

Although this sign has been in use since December 2020, it still doesn’t seem to be very common on French roads. Maybe you’ll come across one during your summer travels!