It is a twist that the President of the Republic wants to give. During his speech on reindustrialization, Thursday May 11Emmanuel Macron indicated that the ecological bonus applied for the purchase of an electric vehicle would now be conditioned to the “carbon footprint” to support what is produced in Europe.
“We must agree to direct our aid and our purchasing policies towards what is good for the climate and for Europe,” said the head of state.
“We must not replicate the mistakes we made, for example in photovoltaics,” he insisted. Currently, according to the government, 40% of these bonuses correspond to vehicles made in Asia.
Priority to vehicles produced in Europe
During the Council of Ministers this Wednesday some clarifications were made. It is therefore a matter of supporting vehicles manufactured in Europe and in France, because “public support for electric vehicles, in its current form, largely supports vehicles manufactured in conditions that are not very respectful of the environment”, the press points out. . green industry bill kit.
“Chinese vehicles, for example, have a manufacturing carbon footprint around 45% higher than similar models produced in Europe,” it can also be read.
“Therefore, the proposed measure aims to exclude from the car bonus vehicles whose production has low environmental performance, and this before the end of 2023,” announces the government. The bonus “will be reserved for vehicles produced in Europe”, summed up Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy, after the Council of Ministers.
Exceptions for certain vehicles manufactured outside of Europe
In reality, there will be no geographic criteria as this would be contrary to the rules of the WTO (World Trade Organization). Certain models produced outside the European Union will therefore remain eligible for the bonus. But now they will have to meet three criteria:
- The assembly of the pieces is carried out in a country that has an energy mix that includes green and renewable energies.
- The batteries and aluminum that make up this vehicle must be manufactured in a country with a carbon-free energy mix
- Batteries and materials used must be recyclable.
In view of these criteria, in fact, many producing countries will be excluded, in particular China, where the main source of energy is coal.
An environmental score for each vehicle.
Bercy says it has developed a model to assess the carbon footprint of building a vehicle, “from battery to engine construction.” As detailed by the ministry, this calculation will allow assigning an environmental score, established by Ademe, to each vehicle. If a car’s score is not good enough, it will automatically be excluded from the bonus.
A decree should be published this summer and the measure will come into force from September. “Such a measure would reduce France’s carbon footprint by -800,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year on average between 2024 and 2027,” says Bercy.
In addition to automobiles, “within the framework of the bonus thus modified, support for the so-called intermediate vehicles (small electric quadricycles, for example) will be increased,” adds the executive.
The ecological bonus is financial assistance granted to any buyer or lessee (LOA of more than two years) of an electric or hydrogen vehicle or a combination of both. The purchase cost must be less than 47,000 euros. Last year, this bonus represented 1,200 million euros.
Source: BFM TV
