With the fall in purchase aid for a new electric car in recent years, “the transition threatens to stop,” is alarmed by a UFC -quisir study published this Thursday, April 17. He Ecological Bonus It went from 7,000 to 4,000 euros between 2023 and 2025 for the most modest homes. Without income conditions, the drop in the proportion is even stronger, with a bonus of 5,000 euros in 2023 to offer only a reduction of 2,000 euros.
Homes behind most records
A decrease in the help questioned in a context in which households were growing in sales last year: the study recalls that if electric vehicles represented 16.8%of the records in 2024, this rate is much higher among people (22.6%) than among companies (11%).
An electric vehicle is still much more expensive: the average price of a new electric vehicle sold in 2024 is 42,930 euros, against 26,774 euros for a thermal gasoline vehicle. Another interesting element presented by the choice of UFC-Quing: the reduction in the price difference between these two engines. The study takes the example of a Peugeot 208 whose price today would be 2.5% lower than that of the thermal version if the help for modest households would have remained in 2023. However, gasoline 208 is today 12% more expensive bonus deduces that its zero emission cousin. It is even worse for a Fiat 500 Electricwith a gap that can reach 40% in some cases.
Solutions claimed for more effective aid
“These decreases directly compromise the transition to less polluting vehicles, particularly for homes that depend on the car and without credible alternative,” the study said. Result: modest homes that “face an impasse,” alerts Marie-Amandine Stévenin, president of UFC-Que Choisir, who also denounces the propagation of requirements in terms of CO2 emissions for car manufacturers in Europe:
“While Brussels releases the pressure on manufacturers, consumers only have the load of the transition. It is not fair, sustainable or the urgency height,” he said.
The consumer association offers several solutions for more effective aid, such as reserving the ecological bonus for vehicles below 1.9 tons or “finally implementing the zero rate loan.” However, a zero rate loan, “provided from the climatic and resilience law, to lift the purchase price barrier,” recalls the study, which states: “No bank establishment has agreed with the State to offer it to homes.” In front of the disparity between National and local aidUFC Choisir also claims a certain harmonization, in particular “aligning the eligibility criteria (income, critics, vehicle price and weight).”
Source: BFM TV
