France

Installation of all 80 offshore wind turbines off the west coast of France has been completed, with France’s first offshore wind farm scheduled to be up and running by the end of the year. The Saint Nazaire site will produce enough power to cover 20% of total electricity consumption of the Loire-Atlantic, or around 700,000 people.

Following President Emmanuel Macron’s re-election in France this year, he has begun making good on a promise he made during his campaign to make electric vehicles more affordable. The government is reportedly working out how quickly it can roll out a new measure that would make leases for some EVs available to the people of France for only 100 euros a month.

Ooh la la! France will now pay you €4,000 (nearly US $4,000) to swap your old polluting car for a cleaner, more efficient, and more city-appropriate electric bicycle. That marks a major increase in the incentive designed to improve French cities.

I’ve been calling for an electric-only division of motorcycle licenses for years, now that e-motos are gaining in popularity. We aren’t there yet, but at least now some new riders can learn to ride and get their motorcycle license entirely on an electric two-wheeler.

GE Renewable Energy announced yesterday on Twitter that the first GE Haliade 150-6 megawatt (MW) wind turbine has now been installed at St. Nazaire, France’s first offshore wind farm.

A new law in France will soon require automakers to include a disclaimer in their advertisements encouraging more energy-efficient transportation alternatives such as walking, biking, or public transit.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced an €8 billion ($8.8 billion) plan Tuesday to revive the country’s auto industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing production and sales of electric vehicles is central to the plan.

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France’s new environment minister, Nicolas Hulot, has announced a series of measures today aiming to make France a carbon neutral country by 2050.

The most radical one is a ban on petrol and diesel cars in 2040. Expand
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France is among the many European markets that greatly helped Tesla grow its fleet in 2015. The automaker delivered a total of 50,580 cars globally last year, which represents an overall 60% increase over 2014, while the company’s deliveries grew 115% in France in 2015. Expand
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France-based automaker Citroën officially announced yesterday the all-electric E-MEHARI. Although the car is officially based on the company’s flagship vehicle of the same name built between 1968-1988, it seems to borrow more design cues from the Bolloré Blue Summer which can be explained by the fact that the E-Méhari is built on Bolloré ‘s electric platform. Expand
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Renault’s all-electric compact, the Zoe, is the best-selling EV in France and still growing. Based on registration data gathered in the past 2 years, sales are up 132%. From January to August 2014, the France-based automaker delivered 2,609 Zoe’s in its home turf, and during the same period in 2015, it delivered 6,059 cars which represents a ~132% increase year over year. Expand
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