Plug in electric vehicles in France

Government incentives

Since 2008 France has a bonus-malus system offering a financial incentive, or bonus, for the purchase of cars with low carbon emissions, and a fee, or malus, for the purchase of high-emission vehicles. The bonus applies to private and company vehicles purchased on or after 5 December 2007 and are deduced from the purchase price of the vehicle. The malus penalty applies to all vehicles registered after 1 January 2008, and is added at the time of registration. Since 2009, every family with more than two children receives a deduction from the malus of 20 g of CO₂ per km per child.

2012-2014

Until July 31, 2012, a premium up to €5,000, under the bonus-malus system, was granted for the purchase of new cars with CO₂ emissions of 60 g/km or less which benefited all-electric cars and any plug-in hybrid with such low emissions. Vehicles emitting up to 125 g/km or less, such as conventional hybrids and natural gas vehicles, were granted up to €2,000. The incentive could not exceed 20% of the sales price including VAT, increased with the cost of the battery if it is rented.

Effective on August 1, 2012, the government increased the bonus for electric cars up to €7,000 but capped at 30% of the vehicle price including VAT. The price includes any battery leasing charges, and therefore, electric cars which need a battery leasing contract also are eligible for the bonus. For example, an electric car sold for €23 333 including VAT was eligible for the maximum bonus of €7,000. The emission level for the maximum bonus was raised to 20 g/km or less. Cars with emission levels between 20 and 50 g/km were eligible to a bonus of up to €5,000, and between 50 and 60 g/km were eligible to a bonus of up to €4,500. After this limit, the bonus dropped to €550.

The fee schedule for the bonus-malus was modified in 2013. Effective November 1, 2013, the bonus was reduced from €7,000 to €6,300 for all-electrics and any other vehicle with CO₂ emissions of less than 21 g/km. Vehicles emitting between 21 to 60 g/km, such as plug-in hybrids and conventional hybrids, were eligible to a bonus up to €4,000, and for emissions between 61 to 90 g/km up to €150, down from €550. Effective January 1, 2014, the fee schedule for the malus was increased to a maximum penalty of €8,000 from €6,000 for vehicles emitting over 200 g/km. A neutral class applied to vehicles emitting between 91-130 g/km.

2015-2016

From April 1, 2015, a super-bonus was introduced, increasing the financial incentive to a cumulative total of €10,000, consisting of the regular bonus of €6,300 for purchasing a pure electric car, plus up to €3,700 for customers scrapping a diesel-powered car in circulation before 1 January 2001. In the case of plug-in hybrids with CO₂ emission levels between 21 and 60 g/km, the purchase bonus is €4,000 plus the scrapping premium of €3,700. Also a specific €500 grant was introduced for families which are below the income tax threshold who buy an ordinary new or second hand car below certain CO₂ emission thresholds or a hybrid or electric car.

Effective January 4, 2016, the €6,300 purchase bonus limited to 27% of the purchase price for vehicles emitting up to 20 g/km was kept. This bonus corresponds to pure electric vehicles and those equipped with a range extender. Vehicles emitting between 21 and 60 g/km were entitled to a €1,000 bonus. This bonus corresponds to the majority of plug-in hybrids. Conventional hybrid passenger cars emitting between 61 and 110 g/km with sufficient level of hybridization, with an electric motor with an output power of not be less than 10 kW, are entitle to a €750 bonus. The €10,000 super-bonus for the purchase or lease of a new all-electric car was maintained. To be eligible for the additional scrappage bonus, the old diesel-powered car have to be owned for at least a year and in circulation before 1 January 2006. The new vehicle must not be sold within 6 months of acquisition or have traveled less than 6,000 km (3,700 mi).

The scrappage bonus for the purchase of pure electric cars was maintained at €3,700, while the bonus for plug-in hybrid car emitting between 21 to 60 g/km was set at €2,500. Only individuals or professionals are eligible for the scrappage bonus. Commercial vehicles are not eligible. Neither demonstration vehicles are eligible to the superbonus unless the vehicles are sold or leased within one year following the date of first registration. As of September 2016, the scrappage bonus of €3,700 for trading in old diesel-powered cars has been granted to more than 10,000 purchase transactions.

2017 proposal

As of September 2016, the government proposal to be in force from 1 January 2017 provides that the €10,000 super-bonus for scrapping a diesel vehicle over 10 years-old will be renewed. However, the bonus for the purchase of a pure electric car will drop to €6,000 from €6,300 in 2016, but to compensate, the additional scrappage bonus will be increased to €4,000 from €3,700 in 2016. Also, the government plans to introduce a purchase price cap to the vehicles eligible for the bonus, and to introduce a new bonus for two-wheeled motor vehicles. For the more polluting vehicles, the government intends to increase the maximum malus fee to €10,000 from €8,000 in 2016 for vehicles emitting more than 191 g/km, lowering the limit from 200 g/km in 2016.

The government intends to maintain the €1,000 purchase bonus for plug-in hybrids with a CO₂ emission level between 21 and 60 g/km. However, the proposal does not include anything about the conversion premium for scrapping a 10 year-old diesel car for the purchase of a plug-in hybrid. The purchase bonus for non-rechargeable hybrid vehicles will be eliminated.

Controversies

In September 2013, several French news outlets reported that according to the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv, some car dealers in Norway have been buying electric cars in France and earning the €7,000 (~ US$9,465) government subsidy. These cars are then imported to Norway and after discounting the freight costs, they are sold at a discount. Dagens Næringsliv cited the case of one dealer near Oslo with 70% of its electric car sales corresponding to vehicles imported from France, and with at least 40 Leafs imported, totaling €280,000 ( ~ US$378,600) in benefits at a cost of the French taxpayers. These dealers took advantage of a loophole in the French law, which only requires to have an address in the country when buying a new car.

Sales

The stock of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles registered in France passed the 100,000 unit milestone in October 2016, making the country the second largest plug-in market in Europe after Norway. It ranks also as the world's fifth largest plug-in market after the U.S., China, Japan and Norway. As of September 2016, and accounting for registrations since 2010, the plug-in electric stock consisted of 61,686 all-electric passenger cars, 24,696 all-electric utility vans, and 12,857 plug-in hybrids. Until 2013, most plug-in cars registered in France were pure electric cars, but from 2015, sales of plug-in hybrid cars rose significantly. After the introduction of super-bonus for the scrappage of old diesel-power cars in April 2015, sales of both segments of plug-in cars surged, and for the first time the French plug-in market share passed the 1% mark in 2015.

As of December 2015, France is the country with the world's largest market for light-duty electric commercial vehicles or utility vans. Nearly half of the electric vans sold in the European Union are sold in France as a result of a national purchase incentive scheme, which French companies have embraced. The market share of all-electric utility vans reached a market share of 1.22% of new vans registered in 2014, and 1.30% in 2015.

2010-2012

Electric car registrations increased from 184 units in 2010 to 2,630 in 2011. Sales in 2012 increased 115% from 2011 to 5,663 electric cars, making France the world's fourth largest all-electric country market, with an 11% market share of global all-electric car sales in 2012.

All-electric car sales in the French market for 2011 were led by the Citroën C-Zero with 645 units followed by the Peugeot iOn with 639 vehicles, and the Bolloré Bluecar with 399 units. During 2012, all-electric car registrations in France were led by the Bluecar with 1,543 units, the C-Zero with 1,409, and the iOn with 1,335, together representing 76% of all electric car sales that year. The Renault Kangoo Z.E. was the top selling utility electric vehicle with 2,869 units registered in 2012, capturing 82% of the segment sales. The Renault Twizy electric quadricycle, launched in March 2012, sold 2,232 units during 2012, surpassing the Bolloré Bluecar, the top selling highway-capable electric car, and ranked as the second best selling plug-in electric vehicle after the Kangoo Z.E.

2013

Registrations reached 8,779 electric cars in 2013, up 55.0% from 2012, and the all-electric market share of total new car sales went up to 0.49% from 0.3% in 2012. In addition, 5,175 electric utility vans were registered in 2013, up 42% from 2012, and representing a market share of 1.4% of all new light commercial vehicles sold in 2013. Sales of electric passenger cars and utility vans totaled 13,954 units in 2013, capturing a combined market share of 0.65% of these two segments new car sales. When accounting together sales of pure electric cars and light utility vehicles, France was the leading European all-electric market in 2012 and 2013.

A total of 666 plug-in hybrids were registered during 2012. The segment sales were led by the Toyota Prius PHV, with 413 registrations, followed by the Opel Ampera with 190. During 2013 a total of 800 plug-in hybrids were sold, up 20% from 2012, with the Prius PHEV continuing as the segment leader with 393 units, followed by the Volvo V60 PHEV with 241 units and the Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid with 90 units. When plug-in hybrids sales in 2013 are accounted for, a total of 14,762 plug-in electric vehicles were registered in France in 2013, making the country to rank second in the plug-in European market after the Netherlands, which sold 28,673 plug-in electric vehicles in 2013.

During 2013, registrations of pure electric cars were led by the Renault Zoe with 5,511 units representing 62.8% of total electric car sales, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 1,438 units. Registrations of all-electric light utility vehicles were led by the Renault Kangoo Z.E. with 4,174 units, representing 80.7% of the segment sales. During 2013 several electric cars from major manufacturers were launched in France. Tesla Model S deliveries to retail customers began in September 2013, the BMW i3 was launched in October, and the Volkswagen e-Up! in November.

2014

A total of 15,045 all-electric cars and vans were registered in 2014, up 7.8% from 2013. With 10,560 cars registered in 2014, up 20.3% from the previous year, sales of all-electric vehicles passed the 10,000 unit milestone for the first time. This figure rises to 10,968 units if the BMW i3 with range extender is accounted for. All-electric utility vans continued to be a significant share of the all-electric segment, with 4,485 units registered in 2014, but down 13.3% from 2013. All-electric cars captured a 0.59% market share of the 1.7 million new car registered in France in 2014, while pure electric utility vans reached a 1.22% market share of their segment. Combined both segments represented a market share of 0.70% of new registrations in the country in 2014.

Light-duty all-electric vehicle sales achieved its best monthly volume on record ever in December 2014, with 2,227 units registered, twice the volume registered the same month in 2013. The slow down in sales that took place in the French EV market during the first half of 2014, allowed Norway, with 18,649 new all-electric vehicles registered, to end 2014 as the top selling European market in the all-electric segment, with France ranking second.

Between 2012 and 2014, cumulative plug-in hybrid registrations reached 2,985 units, rising cumulative French registrations of plug-in electric vehicles since 2005 to 46,590 units, just ahead of the Netherlands (45,020), and making France the European country where there were more plug-in electric vehicles on the road as of December 2014.

The Zoe continued leading plug-in electric vehicle registrations in 2014, with 5,970 units registered, followed by the Kangoo Z.E. van with 2,657 registrations, and the Nissan Leaf ranked next with 1,600 units. Plug-in hybrid car registrations totaled 1,527 units in 2014, almost doubling registrations from a year earlier. Plug-in hybrid sales were driven by the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV, with 820 units registered in 2014, representing 54% of the segment registrations in France that year.

2015

A total of 22,695 light-duty all-electric vehicles were sold in 2015. Sales during this period consisted of 17,779 all-electric cars, up 62.1% from 2014, and 4,916 all-electric utility vehicles, up 9.6% from 2014. All-electric cars captured a 0.9% market share of new car sales in 2015, and electric utility vans a 1.30%. Combining sales of the two segments, the market share of battery electric vehicles rises to 1.2%.

Sales of plug-in hybrids surged in 2015, with 5,006 plug-in hybrids registered in France, up 228% from 2014. The market share of the plug-in hybrid segment reached a market share of 0.26% of the 1.94 million new car registered in 2015. Light-duty plug-in registrations totaled 27,701 units in 2015. Plug-in passenger cars achieved a market share of 1.17% of total new car registrations in 2015.

All-electric car registrations in 2015 continued to be led by the Renault Zoe, with 10,406 units, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 2,220 and the Bolloré Bluecar with 1,166 units. The all-electric utility van segment was led by the Kangoo Z.E. with 2,836 units sold, up 6.7% from 2014. The plug-in hybrid segment was led by the Volkswagen Golf GTE with 1,687 units, followed by the Audi A3 e-tron with 1,123, and the Mitsubishi Ourlander P-HEV with 907.

2016

A total of 33,774 light-duty electric vehicles were registered in France in 2016, making the country the third largest in Europe in 2016 after Norway and the UK. France was the top selling European market in the light-duty all-electric segment with 27,307 units registered, up 23% from 2015. During the first three quarters of 2016, a total of 16,091 all-electric cars and 3,991 electric vans were sold in France. Sales of plug-in hybrids totaled 4,858 units, up 43% year-on-year. Combined sales of the plug-in electric segment achieved a market share of 1.57% of new car sales during the first nine months of 2016. The Renault Zoe continued as the top selling plug-in electric car with 8,163 units accounting for sales during the third quarter of 2016.

As of September 2016, the Renault Zoe is the all-time best-selling plug-in electric vehicle in the French market with 30,098 units registered since 2012. Ranking second was the Kangoo Z.E. utility van with 15,032 units registered since 2010. As of September 2016, the Nissan Leaf ranked third with 8,979 units, followed by the Bolloré Bluecar with 5,689 units. Most units of the Bluecar are in operation for the Autolib' car sharing service in Paris, and similar schemes in Lyon and Bordeaux. As of September 2016, the all-time top selling plug-in hybrid is the Volkswagen Golf GTE with about 2,500 units, followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV with almost 2,000, and the Audi A3 e-tron with more than 1,600.

Top selling all-electric models by year

The following table presents registrations of light-duty highway-capable all-electric vehicles by type (all electric cars and vans, and plug-in hybrids) with detailed all-electric car registrations by model between 2010 and December 2015.