Just four months after France’s Prime Minister announced a new EV subsidy program to incentivize drivers to go all-electric, the government is putting a halt to the savings, at least for the rest of the year.
On October 22, 2023 French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron announced a new “social leasing” program for French residents with the goal of providing payments of €100 ($109) per month for low-income drivers with down payments subsidized by the local government.
Automakers took Macron’s price targets and managed to bring those prices down even further, providing eligible drivers with EV lease options as low as €40 (~$43) with free charging included.
To qualify for the program, French residents must have an annual income of no more than €15,400 ($16,815), travel more than 8,000 km (4,971 miles) per year, and live at least 15 km (9 miles) from their workplace. Those eligible can then take advantage of a three-year lease with the option to purchase their EV thereafter. The contract also covers insurance costs and cancellation in the event of death, disability, or unemployment.
The French government set initial goals for the number of available EV leases this year as automakers worked to deliver enough eligible vehicles for the program to actually begin, but it appears its math was off.
An unexpected number of citizens in France have applied for the EV subsidy program, leading officials to expand the program a bit before pausing it altogether.
France to expand EV subsidy program before 2024 halt
Top comment by Didier Puzenat
The historical French subsidy program is not paused, "you" can still have a so called "bonus" of 5000 € to 7000 € when you buy a new car (even if you pay no income taxes), and even 5000 € more if a very old polluting car is destroyed, and even 5000 € more if you live is some cities. And this "bonus" is financed by the "malus" paid by people who buy cars that emit a lot of CO2. And you can also have an almost free charge point at home. Etc. The "paused" program is a new program called "social leasing" to have an EV for a ridiculous fee per month, for people who need a car to go to work but cannot pay the gas or an EV. It is an environmentally friendly alternative to the previous strategy ie helping to buy gas for cars for people who must use their car but have low incomes. For most eligible people it means almost a free EV since it will be covered by the gas economy. And I would not even say that it is "paused" since the government will lease 50 000 cars while the project was to lease 20 000 cars. The project has just exceeded the scheduled budget so no more people can apply to get a car in 2024. But eligible people will get their car, and quite more than planned (30 000 more !). Depending of the needs, it will be small cars (Peugeot e-2008, Citroen electric C3, etc.) but also family cars such as the Renault Megane E-Tech comparable to a Tesla model 3. Sorry for the long comment but I found the article quite misleading...
Per Reuters, the French government announced Monday that it is already planning to pause the social leasing program. France had initially budgeted 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) to help subsidize 20,000 leases this year, but demand for the program was higher than anticipated.
As a result, the government in France says it is bolstering those eligible leases to 50,000 EVs this year and then halting the subsidy program when that number is reached. Eligible leases will become available again in 2025.
In addition to the leases, France also offers residents cash incentives between 5,000 and 7,000 euros ($5,385-$6,460) to further incentivize drivers to go electric. For those EVs to qualify for both subsidy programs in France, they must meet certain limitations on the amount of carbon produced during their manufacturing and delivery – instantly disqualifying China-made EVs.
Some EVs that do currently qualify include the Fiat 500e, the Peugeot E-208, and the Tesla Model Y. The Model 3, unfortunately, does not qualify.
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