The “social leasing” system for electric cars will be renewed in 2025, Transport Minister François Durovray told AFP on Friday, although its contours are still under discussion.
“It is a system that will be maintained, the contours of which are currently being discussed. It must target the appropriate recipients and, in particular, the most modest French,” said the minister, who spoke on the sidelines of the centenary party. from the Linas-Montlhéry racetrack (Essonne).
This rent with purchase option launched by the government in early 2024 allowed more than 50,000 households to access an electric car for about 100 euros per month. This measure boosted sales of electric vehicles in France, before being suspended after a few weeks, a victim of its success.
Priority to “the most modest homes”
The Elysée then promised that this system would be renewed at the beginning of next year. In the new budget presented on Thursday by the Government for 2025, the allocation for bonuses for the purchase of vehicles, including “social leasing”, will be reduced, from 1.5 to one billion euros.
Although details of the plans have not been published, they will fund “lower-income households with priority,” the government said. François Durovray reaffirmed on Friday that “the decarbonization of transport” was “at the top of the challenges” of his ministry.
For the minister, the latest sales figures for electric cars are “very good”, with a market share of 25% in sales to individuals in France in September. “Today we have a topic more focused on company fleets,” he added.
Fleets account for half of new vehicle sales and are supposed to feed the second-hand market. But few of the largest companies continue to meet their obligation to buy 10% of low-emission vehicles.
Source: BFM TV
