At the beginning of January, the State implemented new aid intended for the most modest French households. 50,000 households were able to benefit from it, but the demands are such that the government would like to put an end to it by 2024.
At the beginning of January, the poorest French people were able to benefit from new state aid. A subsidy of 100 euros to 150 euros per month is in fact granted, for the rental of an electric car, to those whose reference tax income is less than 15,400 euros, but also to those who drive more than 8,000 km per year , or who live far from their place of work (more than 15 km). This new system called “social leasing” aimed to encourage the French to drive in a more ecological way. When this subsidy was launched, the government said it was ready to finance around 25,000 electric vehicles. But at the end of January, more than 90,000 people requested to benefit from this rental with option to purchase (LOA) system. “The objective was largely exceeded, with more than 50,000 orders validated” explained to the newspaper Les Echos, a close friend of Emmanuel Macron.
This Sunday, February 11, the Minister of Industry Roland Lescure declared on France 3 that the State was ready to subsidize more cars on the condition that French manufacturers “accelerate the pace” of production. “Today, there is great demand and we do not yet have enough products made in France. This means that French manufacturers must speed up the pace or commit to doing so,” he declared on the program Dimanche en politique. The minister also recognized that the system was “a victim of its success”. “It’s going a little faster than we thought. We will perhaps slow down a little, give ourselves time to produce French, and then accelerate, accelerate, accelerate....” “End of the year or beginning of next year, I’ll come back and tell you.” he added.
But the success is such that the Élysée has decided to put an end to social leasing for 2024, after only six weeks, according to the newspaper Les Echos, which specifies that a decree should be published in the Official Journal this Tuesday, February 13, 2024. Let us remember that the government finances each electric car rental up to a maximum of 13,000 euros. City cars allow you to obtain a subsidy of 100 euros per month and family cars (excluding insurance and maintenance), a subsidy of 150 euros per month.