the government lifts the veil on the new ecological bond

By Valérie Collet

Published 49 minutes ago, Updated 47 minutes ago

The list of vehicles eligible as of January 1, 2024 for the ecological bonus according to environmental criteria will be announced on December 15, the Ministry of Economy indicated this Monday.

The government has just revealed the calculation method for its new ecological bonus. vert » which will come into effect in January 2024 when purchasing an electric vehicle. If until now the subsidy of 5,000 euros (up to 7,000 euros for low-income families) for the purchase has been allocated regardless of the CO2 balance of the vehicle throughout its life cycle, its environmental sobriety will now be examined. “As an environmental criterion, only greenhouse gas emissions during use were taken into account. However, this approach does not allow us to support the most virtuous vehicles, since it does not integrate the emissions linked to the entire life cycle of a vehicle, from its manufacturing to its use on the road. », explains the government. From now on, an environmental score will be established for each electric vehicle sold in France, which will allow it to qualify or not for the ecological bonus, this State boost aimed at popularizing electric cars.

Read also Electric car: how the government wants to tighten the ecological bonus

The decree and order that regulate environmental criteria will be published in the Official Gazette. However, the list of eligible vehicles will not be published until mid-December. The time when Ademe (the ecological transition agency) checks all the cars. The vehicle’s environmental score will be calculated based on the environmental impact of each step prior to its use on the road. Thus, the materials used for production (steel, ferrous metals, aluminum, etc.) will be taken into account, as well as the environmental impact during assembly (energy consumption, etc.) and the batteries (weight, transportation, etc.) . Logistics will also be examined. In total, the cars must obtain a minimum score of 60 out of 80.

Chinese manufacturers sanctioned

Although Chinese manufacturers will not be directly affected by this new bonus, they will in fact be poorly classified, since their vehicles will have traveled thousands of kilometers with Chinese batteries and materials. Its sale will continue but without the help of the State.

« Thanks to this reform we will stop subsidizing electric vehicles that have a bad carbon footprint. underlines Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy. We will favor vehicles whose production emits less CO2, which should translate into a reduction of the French carbon footprint of 800,000 tons per year and would allow the promotion of more virtuous and carbon-free industrial production. This is a common sense measure, emblematic of our green industry strategy. This will be the first time in Europe.».

The objective of this new bonus is to encourage manufacturers, including Chinese ones, and their suppliers to produce in Europe to benefit from public subsidies. The energy transition must allow the creation of factories and industrial jobs in our territory, argues Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Energy Transition. This is essential for it to benefit all French people. By imposing an environmental criterion on the ecological voucher and social leasing (the rental of an electric vehicle for 100 euros per month, ed.) we give an advantage to French and European companies that strive to reduce their environmental footprint. This is the same approach I took in the renewable energy law by imposing an environmental criterion in tenders.»