2023-04-19 05:10:22
It was on March 17, 2022, at the Docks de Paris in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis), that Emmanuel Macron let go of this promise for the first time: electric cars on lease (long-term rental with option to buy) at 100 euros per month for certain workers and the popular classes. Because even if the number of vehicles running on the atom broke a new record last year, the poorest are left on the sidelines. The following month, the outgoing president specified on TF1: “Electricity is very hard to buy today for a minimum wage household. […] Someone who lives 30 kilometers from where he works spends an average of 150 euros per month to fill up. With such a system, he will make a lot of savings, from the first month. The first rent, often prohibitive, would also be guaranteed by the Caisse des dépôts “for couples who earn the minimum wage or a little more”, explained Macron. Objective: at least 100,000 electric vehicles on lease per year.
A year later, the project is gaining ground. Appropriations are voted in the 2023 budget, for “prime the pump” explains a government source to BFM TV, and in February, Elisabeth Borne “confirms that eligible persons will be able, starting in the fall, to reserve their vehicle, which will be delivered to them in 2024”. But, contrary to an argument often used, nothing indicates that the measure will turn French or even European factories.
“It would be 100% Chinese cars”
“We have a real problem with French manufacturers and no one dares to say it publicly, lashes out at Release a senior official of the majority. Electric cars from Renault and PSA are top of the range, absolutely not for the middle or popular classes. However, the challenge of this measure is to allow French people who do not have the means to drop their petrol or their diesel to go electric. And to summarize: “If we were to press the ‘leasing’ button now, it would be 100% Chinese cars. We would totally miss our target.”
Last year, the CEO of the Renault group, Luca de Meo, rather returned the ball of high prices to the States or the European Union. “There is a bug in the system: today, it is easier to enforce new environmental and safety standards for large premium cars. […] The regulations therefore put us in a situation where we can no longer produce accessible small cars.” The government has certainly not remained inactive on the transition to more electric motors, but the ecological bonus, a flagship measure in the executive’s arsenal, mainly benefits those who can afford to pay between 30,000 and 40,000 euros for their new car.
A French Renault… not before autumn 2024
Cheap models produced in France will they arise between now and the launch of the leasing? The two best-selling electric cars in 2022 should be eligible, but the Dacia Spring is produced in China and the Peugeot e-208 in Eastern Europe and Morocco. In December, Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis (born from the merger of PSA and Fiat-Chrysler), for his part said he was thinking regarding a model in this range, but the first leads were aimed at production in India. On the industrial sovereignty side, we will come back.
In addition to the Fiat 500e, produced in Italy, the electric Renault 5 might tick the boxes. Assembled in Douai (North), the entry-level would be around 18,000 euros, ecological bonus included for the most modest households. And therefore enter the leasing device. Problem: it should only be available in the fall of 2024. Models built far from France should therefore largely benefit from year I of electric leasing. Or how, before promising, it is better to check its possible economic and industrial application.
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