Emmanuel Macron puts the turbo on the electric car

Published on : 17/10/2022 – 16:52

The Head of State inaugurated the Paris Motor Show on Monday, a few hours after an interview with the daily The echoes in which he details a whole series of measures in favor of low-carbon vehicles. And confirms its ambition to bring France into the all-electric era.

First axis of this long interview given to echoes : the ecological bonus, ie aid for the purchase of a new electric vehicle. Emmanuel Macron announces that it will be increased from 6,000 to 7,000 euros. The measure will concern half of the households, in priority the most modest. This boost is applicable to vehicles under 47,000 euros to purchase.

Further details were also expected regarding le leasing, in other words the rental of an electric car at 100 euros per month with the option to buy. Its launch is scheduled for the second half of 2023. It will also be aimed at the most modest households.

Regarding electric refills, promises there too. Nearly 100,000 public terminals will be available at the start of 2023 throughout the territory. Originally, the government wanted to achieve this objective by the end of the year, but the account will not be there: 70,000 will have been installed in France by the end of 2022. The president hopes for 400,000 terminals public by 2030.

Boost a growing but highly unequal market

All these measures aim to continue the exponential dynamic on which the electricity market in France is engaged. In September 2022, for the first time, more electric cars were sold than diesel cars. A statistic to be convinced of this growth: in 2018, electric represented only 1% of the automotive market, against 13% in 2022.

But access to this market is very unequal. Admittedly, in the long term, the electric is more profitable than the thermal car, because the electric costs less and the cost of maintenance is lower. But you still have to be able to get one. An electric car can cost up to 50% more than a thermal model.

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The objective of France, further specifies the president, is for the country to produce one million electric vehicles in 2027 and 2 million by 2030 with a 100% electric vehicle fleet by this deadline. Except that nearly 80% of batteries and electric vehicles are imported into France. The batteries made in France will be produced in the coming months “, specifies Emmanuel Macron. Currently, three factory projects making 100% French batteries have emerged in the territory. ” We are therefore very credible with our objective of being autonomous on batteries by 2027. We can even start exporting after this date. “, anticipates Emmanuel Macron.

This ambitious French policy also responds to a challenge being played out across the European Union: the disappearance, by 2035, of new thermal vehicles.

To drive ecologically, let’s drive light

A few days before the opening of the Motor Show, the ecological transition agency (Ademe), published a report on the ecological relevance of an electric car. He recalls that an electric car leaves with a “carbon debt” three times higher than a thermal vehicle. The carbon debt corresponds to the energy and the material that had to be spent to build the vehicle. The manufacture of batteries, the extraction of minerals such as rare earths, increase the carbon impact of electric vehicles during their manufacture.

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But in the long term, this debt disappears and the carbon impact of the electric car then becomes two to three times lower than that of a thermal model. This observation is only valid on one condition: the capacity of the battery must not exceed 60 kilowatt hours. Thus, for cars with light batteries, such as “city cars”, the carbon impact linked to its manufacture disappears after 15,000 kilometers compared to more than 100,000 kilometers for electric sedans and SUVs.

With a battery larger than 60 kilowatt hours, Ademe believes that the interest of having an electric car to preserve the environment is not guaranteed. To drive ecologically, the agency therefore recommends driving light and favoring vehicles with low autonomy.