E-biking the Susa Valley, where to charge between Susa, Exilles and the Mont Cenis pass

Some valleys you pass through, and some you stop in. For a lot of people, the Susa Valley, west of Turin in Piedmont, is just the stretch of motorway that leads to France or to the ski slopes: tunnels, viaducts, and straight on towards the Fréjus. Yet all it takes is to leave at the right exit and get in the saddle to discover a completely different world, made of stone villages, vineyards clinging to the slopes, fortresses that look like they've stepped out of a novel, and mountain roads that climb until they almost touch two thousand metres. And there's one detail that makes it especially well suited to e-bike riders: looking at our map, it's one of the areas of Piedmont where charging points are densest, most up to date and, in most cases, free and accessible at any hour.

That's exactly why we decided to tell its story starting from the map. Instead of the usual whistle-stop tour of pretty places, we'll take you up the valley from charging point to charging point, with what you'll find around each one: where to grab a coffee while the battery fills up, what to see a few steps away, and which stops have been checked recently by someone who actually went there. All the information comes from the OpenStreetMap data we use for Watt2Ride. It's maintained by volunteers and often very accurate, but things change: before you set off, always take a look at each point's details on the map, which is where you'll find the most up-to-date version.

Susa, the perfect base camp

The natural starting point is Susa, at around five hundred metres above sea level, a town of Roman origin whose Arch of Augustus has been standing guard at the gateway to the upper valley for two thousand years. Here you'll find not one but two charging points, just a few hundred metres apart: one in Piazza della Repubblica and one on Corso Trieste. Both are marked as free, open around the clock, with space for two bikes each. And they come with a little bonus that anyone who's ever had a flat in the mountains will appreciate: a pump to top up your tyres. Given that from here on the road starts climbing in earnest, setting off with a full battery and the right tyre pressure is the best possible way to begin the day.

The best thing about these two points is what's around them. The one on Corso Trieste has the Caffè del Sole practically next door, about fifteen metres away, and within a few steps there are a couple of bakeries and a restaurant. The one in Piazza della Repubblica is surrounded by bars, cafés and a small supermarket, perfect if you want to stock up on water and something to eat before heading uphill. It's the kind of place where charging becomes an excuse for a leisurely breakfast or a stroll among the Roman remains in the old town, and where the wait goes by without you even noticing. If you fancy making Susa your base for a few days, you can come back here every evening and head off in a different direction every morning.

Up the valley, among vineyards and fortresses

From Susa, heading west up the valley, the road starts gaining height through woods, hamlets and the first glimpses of the peaks. And this is where the Susa Valley reveals its most surprising side for anyone travelling by e-bike: a chain of charging points just a few kilometres apart, almost like refuelling stops laid out on purpose. The first one you'll reach, on the hillside above Susa, is in Giaglione, in Piazza Europa: free, open day and night, with space for four bikes and a drinking fountain a few metres away. It was also checked on site in August 2025, which means someone passed by recently and confirmed everything is as described. A little further on there's also a point in Gravere, along the main road, but for now the map has very little information about it. If you ride past, it's the perfect chance to help us fill it in with a quick report.

Next comes Chiomonte, a village of terraced vineyards climbing up sunny slopes, where the charging point sits in Vicolo San Bartolomeo. Here too everything is nice and clear: free, open around the clock, two spaces, and checked on site in September 2025. About twenty metres away is the Albergo Belvedere, with a couple of trattorias and a café a little further on, for anyone who wants to turn the stop into a proper lunch. A few kilometres higher up you reach Exilles, and here the view changes all at once, because towering over the village is the enormous Fort of Exilles, one of the most impressive Alpine fortresses in all of Piedmont. There are actually two charging points here, both free and open day and night, and both checked in September 2025 as well. The one on Via Alpini has four spaces and a drinking fountain close by, and just over a hundred metres away there's a café that, fittingly, is called Il Forte. It's hard to imagine a better place to leave the bike charging and climb up for a look around the ramparts.

Novalesa and the big climb to the Mont Cenis pass

If you'd rather head north from Susa, the side valley of the Cenischia takes you to Novalesa, a small village at the foot of the Mont Cenis, best known for its Benedictine abbey, founded in the eighth century and still one of the most atmospheric places in the valley. There's a charging point here too, open around the clock, on Via Susa, with two spaces, a drinking fountain right next to it and a restaurant about forty metres away. When it comes to the fee, though, the map doesn't say anything yet. It's one of those cases where it's worth asking on the spot, and then maybe letting us know how it went with a report, so the next rider doesn't have to wonder.

And now for the real challenge, the one that's worth the trip on its own: the Mont Cenis pass, known in Italian as the Colle del Moncenisio, at over two thousand metres, with its large reservoir set among the mountains. Starting from Susa that's almost sixteen hundred metres of climbing, the kind of ascent that on a traditional bike is reserved for very well-trained legs and that an e-bike puts within reach of many more riders. As long as you manage the battery well, that is. All the rules we often talk about on this blog apply here: set off fully charged, use the assistance sparingly on the easier stretches and keep a good margin, because up there the wind and the cold can make themselves felt even in the middle of summer. And the best part is that on the other side of the pass, already in France, the map shows another free charging point in Val-Cenis, at Le Relais des 2 Cols, with restaurants and a crêperie all around. A charge and a crêpe before heading back down: if there's a better way to celebrate a climb like that, we haven't found it yet.

Before you set off

The Susa Valley has plenty more to offer, and the map shows it well. Climbing further into the upper valley, there are charging points in Cesana Torinese and in Sestriere, where you'll find several chargers from the DINAclub network. Some of them, though, have their location flagged as needing verification, and you'll see that on the details panel as the usual yellow warning. Nothing serious, but it's worth checking them on a second map before relying on them for the last stretch of a tough climb. In the same way, points with little data, like the ones in Gravere or Novalesa, are perfectly real but deserve a quick extra check.

Our advice before you leave is simple: open the Watt2Ride map on the area, pick the stops that interest you and save them to your favorites, so you can find them in a second while you're riding. And if you discover something new along the way, a point that's no longer there, a fee that's changed, a particularly welcoming café, tell us about it with a report or a review. That's how a valley like this becomes, day by day, even easier to explore by e-bike. And trust us, it's worth every single metre of climbing.