Grants for electric cars in France

As most countries in the European Union or in Europe (UK), France is taking steps to promote the adoption of eco-friendly transportation habits. Grants for an electric and hybrid vehicles are among the measures taken to reduce pollution. Here are the various schemes and grants for buying an electric car in France.

What grants in France for buying electric vehicles, hybrid cars, etc.

In 2024, 2 big programs are in place to incentivize the purchase of electric vehicles, to promote the replacement of old cars with more recent models (and therefore better Crit’air emissions sticker). Other initiatives also contribute to this pivot towards sustainable mobility:

• Bonus écologique (ecological grant or government grant for electric vehicles): instead of paying a malus proportional to a car emissions, the purchaser of a clean car (electric or hydrogen) will get a grant from the French government
• Prime à la conversion (car replacement grant): owners of old petrol or diesel car get a grant if they scrape their old car to replace it with a cleaner vehicle
• Local grants: regional or departmental schemes
• Borne de recharge: a grant is allowed to owners of an electric vehicle to finance the installation of a charging station at home

We will go through the details of each scheme of those grants for electric vehicles in France. However, the easiest to assess what you can claim is to do the eligibility test on the official website (button « Commencer le test ») :

Bonus écologique: government subsidy for purchasing an electric or hybrid car in France

Through the “ecological bonus”, the state helps the population with the purchase of a vehicle. In other words, it provides financial assistance to anyone who buys in France a car of the type « new or second-hand low-emission vehicle » (or leases it).

Conditions to be met

Certain conditions must be fulfilled to benefit from this subsidy « electric car »:

• Be domiciled in France
• Buy or lease the vehicle
• The vehicle must be a passenger car, van, 2 or 3-wheel motor vehicle or quad bike
• If it is a car or a van, the owner does not have the right to sell his French vehicle before 12 months of ownership
• Electric cars must have an environmental score of at least 60 (list here)
• The purchased car cannot be worth more than €47,000
• Two- or three-wheel motor vehicles or quadricycles must not use a lead-acid battery

Bonus ecologique 2024: what’s new about this government grant for electric cars?

In 2024, there are changes regarding that grant when purchasing a new electric car. It’s worth €4,000, + €3,000 extra when their yearly household income per member (« RFR de référence ») doesn’t exceed €15,400. Hybrid vehicles remain excluded from this grant.

The weight of the vehicle cannot exceed 2,400 kg. Only category M2 vehicles benefit from an exemption, their mass may exceed this ceiling provided that their GVW is not above 3.5 t.

Please note that the authorities takes into account the date of signature of the purchase order for the granting of the bonus. However, invoicing must be done within the following 3 months in order to benefit from the ecological bonus. In principle, the car dealer will submit the request and deduct the bonus from the invoice. If he doesn’t, you will have to file yourself a request here.

« Prime à la conversion » electric car: a popular French government grant

If the bonus écologique is rather popular, another grant scheme is even more used: the prime à la conversion. In short, thanks to this subvention you can get from €100 to €5,000 by scrapping an old car in France in order to replace it with a new (and clean) model. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an electric car. You can purchase a clean second hand petrol car (less than 132 g of CO2) and get paid up to €3,000. Of course if you purchase an electric car, or a hybrid vehicle, you will get more: up to €5,000.

Please note, however, that those grants are subject to household income limits. The most generous amounts are granted to households earning less than € 7,100 (per household member). If you earn more than that, this amount is divided by two.

• Green number plates in France: what is the meaning?

However, the good news is that you can take advantage of the bonus écologique scheme on top of this government grant. In other words, you can get paid up to €12,000 to purchase an electric car worth less than €47,000. Usually, the car dealer will take care of the paperwork. If he doesn’t, you will have to file an online request (link).

Local grants for electric cars : more electric car subsidies in France

Certain regions or departments may choose to introduce specific local grants. It would be too tedious to describe them all, especially given they might run for a short period of time. For example, in Paris region (Île-de-France), a special incentive has been put in place to help small companies investing in electric cars. In the Grand-Est, owners of a petrol car who convert their vehicle to E85 are entitled to a €500 grant. Contact your regional authorities to learn more about potential local grants and support for electric vehicles in France.

Grant schemes for electric vehicle charging infrastructure at home: « Borne de recharge »

If you install charging equipment at home (main or secondary residence), the French government has a grants for electric vehicle charging stations. You get a tax credit worth 75%, but not higher than €300. There are no income conditions to fulfill to benefit from this subsidized tax credit.