One of main aids to purchase an electric car will end in France in 2025

One of the major financial aid schemes intended to help people change from a combustion car to an electric vehicle in France will be discontinued in 2025, the Economy Ministry has confirmed.

The prime à la conversion (conversion bonus) will end next year. Currently, it is granted when a low-polluting vehicle is purchased in exchange for an old, polluting car.

The prime will be discontinued in the 2025 Budget, which has been approved by the Assemblée Nationale and is expected to be passed by the Senate imminently.

Only the aid schemes of the ecological bonus and social leasing will remain for the purchase of an electric car. But the total amount of these remains as-yet unconfirmed.

“The government is phasing out the conversion bonus scheme, which is based on the condition that a polluting vehicle is removed, in order to concentrate on the ecological bonus,” said an Economy Ministry spokesperson to AFP, in a move confirmed by BFM Business and Le Figaro.

The ecological bonus “is being maintained, a choice that some of our neighbours such as Germany have not made,” the spokesperson continued. “[This bonus is] “the main tool for supporting households in the decarbonisation of their lifestyles and the development of the electric vehicle market”, they said.

Read more: Will French aid to buy a zero emission car drop in 2025? 
Read also: Buying an electric car in France: how government aid is changing 

Amounts available in 2025 not yet confirmed

The prime à la conversion will continue to amount to a maximum of €5,000 (depending on the type of vehicle) until the end of 2024. When added to the ecological bonus, the amount available could reach up to €7,000, depending on household income.

However, the amounts set to be available in 2025 (for the ecological bonus and social leasing) have not yet been confirmed.

The amount is very likely to be reduced, however, within the billion euro limit set by the government dedicated to the scheme, Le Figaro reports.

Yet, the Economy Ministry added that it was “working on using energy saving certificates to continue to support households, particularly low-income households, in leasing clean vehicles”.

This aid is means-tested, and calculated according to the amount of energy saved.

To support demand for clean vehicles, the government is also considering an amendment that would penalise companies that do not ‘greenify’ their car fleets enough, reports BFM Business.

Read also: What are rates for long-term electric car rentals in France?
Read also: Are electric vehicle grants available for second-home owners in France? 

Successful scheme

The prime à la conversion for vehicles is currently granted for the exchange of a polluting vehicle (registered before 2011 for diesel or before 2006 for petrol engines) for a less-polluting vehicle, such as an electric or hybrid car.

Read also: How electric car grants are changing in France 

Already this year, the maximum amount available was reduced to between €1,500 and €5,000, depending on household income. The scheme has been hailed a success, as more than a million primes were granted between 2018 and 2022, the Ecology Ministry states.

Of the vehicles scrapped under the scheme, 75% were diesel and 19 years old on average. Of the vehicles purchased, 70% were new and 66% were ‘zero-emission’ vehicles (electric or hydrogen-powered).