France pauses EV lease subsidies after overwhelming response

The government of France on Monday paused the lease subsidies on electric vehicles (EV) after an overwhelming response from customers.

The program allows customers to lease a vehicle at up to 100 to 150 euros a month starting January 2024. This program was opened to people with an annual income of less than 15,400 euros ($16,600).

The French government launched this plan to increase EV sales with financial support who meet low-income requirements.

With initial observations, the government passed a 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) bill to subsidize 20,000 leases under the program through 2024. Interestingly, the program received a massive response from customers who wanted to lease a new EV.

That led the government to increase the subsidies to 50,000 people by this year and it will keep a pause on the program until 2025.

Other than leasing, the French government is offering cash incentives of 5,000 and 7000 euros to purchase a new electric vehicle. It’s important to know that people are showing great interest in leasing a vehicle compared to purchase.

French President, Emmanuel Macron said last year that the country would produce one million electric vehicles by 2027 to reduce carbon emissions by 55 percent by the end of the decade.

The country also made some mechanisms around local production of EVs to offer subsidies for customers.

(source – Reuters)