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 2026, only one big program is left to incentivize the purchase of electric vehicles. Other initiatives, though, 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. The official name of the program is « Coup de pouce Véhicule Particulier Électrique »
• Local grants: regional or departmental schemes
• Social leasing: people earning less than €16,300 can lease an electric car for €140 (subject to availability, the number of grants is limited each year. See here

💡The Prime à la conversion (car replacement grant) has been scrapped in 2025.

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 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).

💡If the battery is made in Europe, eligible persons can get an extra amount (€ 1.200 to € 2.000).

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 and weight more than 2,4 tons
• Two- or three-wheel motor vehicles or quadricycles must not use a lead-acid battery

« Prime à la conversion » electric car: a popular French government grant that is no more

If the bonus écologique is rather popular, another grant scheme was even more used: the prime à la conversion. In short, thanks to this subvention you could get from €100 to €5,000 by scrapping an old car in France in order to replace it with a new (and clean) model. Unfortunately, this grant is not available anymore.

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

You could even take advantage of the bonus écologique scheme on top of this government grant. In other words, you could get paid up to €12,000 to purchase an electric car worth less than €47,000.

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.