Zero fossil fuel: France opens its first area 100% dedicated to electric cars
Recognizable by their yellow canopies equipped with solar panels, Fastned stations offer charging up to 400 kW. That of Saint-Yvi will be the first French service area entirely without thermal fuel. © Visual deposit of the St Yvi station, Fastned
The RN 165, this artery which connects Nantes to Brest crossing Finistère, will undergo a silent but significant transformation. The company Fastned, a European specialist in fast charging, won the call for tenders launched by the Interdepartmental Directorate of West Roads to design and operate a new type of service area in Saint-Yvi.
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An infrastructure designed for the post-gasoline era
The project involves the installation of six ultra-fast charging stations reaching 400 kW of power – against 300 kW for its largest stationin the Maxe area, on the A31 motorway, including one specifically designed for electric heavy goods vehicles. On this route traveled daily by some 28,000 vehicles, the total absence of fossil fuels marks a conceptual break with traditional areas.
The station will not be limited to charging equipment alone. A shop, toilets and a landscaped garden will make up the whole, transforming charging time into breathing time for drivers. Work will start in early 2026 for commissioning the same year.
Brittany, a unique territory with its 1,060 km of national roads and free motorways, already has nearly 95,000 electric vehicles in circulation, a volume higher than the French average. This density probably weighed in the choice of the geographical location of the project.
A Fastned station in the United Kingdom (Antrim) opened in March 2025. © Fastned
The company, which had opened its first four fast charging stations in 2021is committed to supplying the entire station with electricity from renewable sources. Photovoltaic shade structures will cover the terminals while existing trees will be preserved, supplemented by plantings of local species. Fastned already operates 380 stations across Europe, including 53 on French territory.
This project comes a few months after the opening of a similar infrastructure in Gentbrugge, Belgium, the first exclusively electric European motorway area. France is following suit, signaling that the era of all-thermal energy on major roads is gradually coming to an end.
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