A Guide to Driving Your EV to Morzine in the French Alps

Should you drive your EV to the French Alps?

As co-founders of AliKats (a sustainable chalet company in Morzine) we drive electric vehicles in France for both business and our daily family needs. We have several long distance journeys under our belts and can honestly say that with a little preparation, driving an EV in France is straightforward. In fact many British drivers report that charging in France is easier and more reliable than in the UK. In this guide we have put together the essential information you need to know before you go.

What’s covered in this guide:

Crossing the Channel with an EV
Charging Stations on the Way to the Alps
Paying for EV Charging in France
Apps and Subscriptions for EV driving in France
Charging your EV in and around Morzine
Which EV Connectors and Cables Do You Need for Driving in France?
Planning Your Journey Around EV Range
Weather and driving on Alpine roads

Crossing the Channel with an EV

The Eurotunnel Le Shuttle is one of the most eco-friendly ways to reach France, using electric trains and boasting impressively low carbon emissions. It is easy to set off from Folkestone with your car fully charged. Ultra rapid chargers (210 kw) are available at the Folkestone Eurotunnel terminal at a rate of 50 pence per kWh, allowing you to charge your EV in around 30 minutes – depending on the engine size. For the return, on the French side, you’ll find chargers at the Victor Hugo terminal in Calais making it easy to top up before your return crossing. Tesla superchargers are also available at both terminals.

You can also board any vehicle-carrying ferries with your EV. Some P&O ferries now offer charging stations onboard. We recently sailed the Dover-Calais route and found charging stations offering fast charging at €20 or slow charging at €10. Other ferry operators encourage drivers to charge their cars in the terminal or local area before or after sailing.

Charging Stations on the Way to the Alps

France has one of Europe’s most developed EV charging networks, making long-distance travel straightforward and stress-free. With over 155,000 public charging points, there is strong motorway coverage with rapid chargers (50 kW+) as well as slower chargers in towns, hotels, retail parks, and attractions.

The fastest chargers are along toll roads, with networks like Ionity and Fastned providing ultra-fast charging on major routes. For a more relaxed journey, some drivers take slower routes nationales, stopping at AC chargers in smaller towns and potentially charging over night at a hotel —but for most, utilizing motorway fast chargers will be the quickest and most convenient way to reach the mountains.

If you are taking it slower or doing a wider road trip in France, it’s worth knowing that most Lidl supermarkets now have fast or ultra fast EV chargers, that are cheaper than motorway options, and useful if you need to grab some shopping. These usually take contactless payment, so you can simply plug in and tap your card.

Paying for EV Charging in France

Paying for EV charging in mainland Europe is slightly different from the UK. Most chargers are activated via RFID cards from providers such as ChargeMap, Plugsurfing, or Shell Recharge, giving access to thousands of chargers across multiple networks. Many car manufacturers now also provide their own cards—for example, Hyundai’s Charge MyHyundai card works at nearly all rapid chargers on long trips. Ultrafast chargers on motorways usually accept contactless payments, however rural and slower chargers often don’t, so it’s important to have a roaming app or RFID card handy too.

Apps and Subscriptions for EV driving in France

Planning an EV trip to the Alps is much easier with the right apps downloaded and ready to go. If you have Android Auto or CarPlay you can share the route with Google Maps and navigate your route and charging points. If not, there are some useful roaming mobile apps that do this and more.

ChargeMap is a French app widely used across the country, offering excellent coverage of chargers in towns, on motorways (including Ionity and Fastned), and at resorts. It allows you to map your route and plan charging stops, filtering by charger type, speed, and availability, and includes user reviews. The ChargeMap Pass—available as a single RFID card or through the app—works across multiple networks in France and Europe, automatically handling payment for a seamless charging experience.

ChargeMap does add a fee as a roaming provider, but the convenience can outweigh this. One option, is to also purchase an Ionity subscription for your UK to Alps journey. This network dominates long-distance motorway travel, especially towards Geneva / Alps routes. A subscription often makes charging €0.20–€0.40 cheaper per kWh. On a typical drive from Calais to Morzine, you’ll pass around 6–10 Ionity charging stations along the main autoroute route, roughly spaced every 80–120km, you add your payment details to the app and charge via the app.

Charging your EV in and around Morzine

When you stay with AliKats, a number of our Morzine chalets already offer convenient EV charging, including Chalet Soleil d’Or, Chalet Sarcleret, Chalet Debussy, Chalet Bizet, Chalet La Bise and Chalet Rivière . We’re continuing to expand this across our portfolio, with more installations planned over the 2026–27 seasons.

Our properties offer EV charging via a standard UK or EU 3-pin domestic socket. You’ll need your own charging cable, and we recommend purchasing a suitable adaptor for French sockets in advance. Once set up, you can recharge overnight and head home fully topped up.

In addition, there are several public charging stations in and around Morzine. Of these, only one is a fast-charging station: Carrefour in the centre of Morzine.

Public Charging Stations in Morzine

• Carrefour Drive, Morzine – 120 kW
  141 B Route du Plan, 74110 Morzine, France
• Palais des Sports (eborn / EasyCharge)
  430 Route du Palais des Sports, 74110 Morzine, France
• Carrefour Supermarket, Saint-Jean-d’Aulps – 20 kW, Type 2
  2073 Route des Grandes Alpes, 74430 Saint-Jean-d’Aulps, France
• Delbard, Morzine – 22 kW, Type 2
  1992 Route de la Plagne, 74110 Morzine, France

Which EV Connectors and Cables Do You Need for Driving in France?

In France, most EV chargers use Type 2 for slow AC charging and CCS Combo 2 for fast or ultra-rapid DC motorway chargers. It’s a good idea to carry a Type 2 cable for hotels or supermarket stops, while motorway ultra-rapid chargers like Ionity and Fastned provide their own cables — so you can simply plug in and go. Don’t forget to bring an adaptor to safely connect your charger to a French socket (often charging cables are really heavy and a standard UK/FR plug adaptor can be come unseated by the weight and create a risk of heating).

Tesla owners have it even easier: Type 2 AC charging works at most hotels and supermarkets, and Tesla Superchargers along motorways provide ultra-rapid charging with built-in cables. For third-party ultra-fast chargers like Ionity or Fastned, newer Teslas support CCS natively, while older models may require an adapter.

Planning Your Journey Around EV Range

When travelling in an EV, good time planning is essential. Unlike in a petrol or diesel car, where driving a little faster might help you catch a ferry or Channel crossing, speeding in an EV usually reduces efficiency and shortens your range. In some cases, this could even mean needing an extra charging stop — costing more time overall rather than saving it.

It’s therefore important to understand your vehicle’s realistic range on a full charge and plan your journey accordingly. Remember that factors such as driving speed, weather conditions, elevation changes, and terrain can all significantly affect battery performance and energy consumption.

When estimating range, it’s always wise to leave a comfortable buffer to account for unexpected detours, traffic delays, strong headwinds, or limited charger availability. Careful planning helps make EV travel smoother, less stressful, and often more time-efficient.

When we did the Morzine-Calais route for the first time it took us a total of 13 hours. We found that 100 km/h was the most efficient cruising speed. Interestingly, if we had driven at the speed limit of 130 km/h, the reduced efficiency would have meant our overall journey time would actually have been longer.

Weather and Alpine roads

Driving an EV in the Alps is smooth and rewarding, but mountain conditions do require a little extra preparation. Steep climbs, winding roads, and extreme temperatures can all affect your vehicle’s performance and range.

Uphill driving and cold weather both increase energy consumption, so it’s important to plan accordingly. Preheating your car while it’s still plugged in, allowing for more frequent charging stops, and maintaining a comfortable battery buffer can all help reduce range anxiety. Using seat and steering wheel heaters instead of full cabin heating can also help conserve power.

On the other hand, mountain descents can work in your favour thanks to regenerative braking. Most EVs are equipped with this technology, which captures energy while slowing down and feeds it back into the battery instead of wasting it as heat. Regenerative braking also reduces wear on traditional brake pads.

This effect is particularly noticeable in the Alps. For example, if you drive up to Avoriaz during your stay and then return to Morzine, you may find your battery percentage is actually higher at the bottom than when you set off downhill.

It’s also a good idea to check the weather forecast. A study by AAA found that when temperatures drop to around -6°C and cabin heating is in use, the average EV driving range can decrease by as much as 41%. In hot summer conditions above 32°C using air conditioning can reduce range by nearly 20%.

Finally, just like any other vehicle in the Alps, your EV will need snow chains during winter conditions — and they are mandatory on some mountain routes to resort areas. It’s well worth practising fitting them before your journey so you’re prepared if conditions change quickly.

The Bottom Line

With a growing network of fast chargers across France, driving an EV to Morzine in the French Alps is easier—and more enjoyable—than ever. Charging on the move is straightforward once you’re set up. Roaming apps such as ChargeMap make it easy to find charging hubs, access and pay across multiple providers on longer journeys.

Whether you visit in winter or summer, having your car on hand opens up even more of the Alps. In summer, enjoy beautiful days out by car—enjoy lakeside lunches in Annecy, beach-hopping and discovering charming villages along the shores of Lake Geneva, or a scenic drive to Chamonix for breathtaking mountain views. You can also bring your dog on an AliKats holiday.

When you stay with AliKats, many of our Morzine chalets offer convenient EV charging, so you can top up overnight and relax knowing your car will be ready for the next day. Simply check the key features on your chosen chalet to confirm availability.

It’s all part of a lower-impact stay with a company that genuinely cares for the Alpine environment you’ve come to enjoy.

Image credits: Kasya Shahovskaya on Unsplash (1); Brian Wangenheim on Unsplash (2); Red dot on Unsplash (3); Vue Village Hiver 2021 @samingles (4); Konstantin Kleine on Unsplash (6).