Like every year, the automotive sector will experience significant legislative changes in 2025. This time it is the aid for the purchase of “clean” vehicles which is changing the most, but not necessarily for the better. Explanations…
The ecological bonus further reduced
In 2024, the amount of the ecological bonus for the purchase of a new electric car was €4,000, or even €7,000 for households whose reference tax income per share was less than or equal to €15,400. Since December 2, however, the amount of the ecological bonus has been divided into three income brackets. From now on, for the first five deciles, the aid will only reach €4,000. The 6th to 8th deciles must make do with €3,000 in state aid and the 9th and 10th deciles with €2,000.
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The ecological bonus is still reserved for electric vehicles sold for less than €47,000 excluding options. Models must also achieve a certain environmental score to be eligible for the bonus, excluding almost all electric cars produced outside the European continent.
This drop in the amount of the ecological bonus, despite sales of electric cars which are not really taking off, is the consequence of an envelope dedicated to greening the automobile fleet reduced to 1 billion euros in 2025, compared to 1.5 billion euros in 2024. 700 million euros will be allocated to the ecological bonus and the “retrofit” bonus, while the remaining 300 million euros will be used for social leasing.
Furthermore, the bonus dedicated to motorized 2-wheelers and electric quadricycles, set at €900 in 2024, has simply been eliminated.
The conversion bonus is over
Another lever for greening the French automobile fleet, the conversion bonus made it possible to scrap an older vehicle and benefit from assistance with the purchase of a less polluting model. Already largely reduced over the years, the conversion bonus has now been canceled.
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Social leasing will make a comeback
Social leasing, which allows you to rent an electric car for €100/month, or even much less for certain models, thanks to significant state subsidies, is renewed in 2025. But a victim of its success in 2024, it will only be activated in the second half of the year.
© Ministries Ecology Energy Territories
The subsidies amounted to €13,000 per car in 2024 on a total of 50,000 vehicles made available, compared to 25,000 files initially announced. This represents more than double the envelope of 300 million euros granted this year to social leasing. If the objective of offering electric cars at €100/month is maintained for 2025, the amount of subsidies could be reduced and the cheapest offers disappear. All this remains to be confirmed.
ZFE: Paris, Lyon, Montpellier and Grenoble say goodbye to the Crit'Air 3
If aid for the purchase of “clean” cars is reduced, metropolises continue to tighten the screws on the most polluting vehicles. As of January 1, 2025, the ZFE (Low Emission Zones) of Greater Paris, Greater Lyon, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole and Grenoble Alpes Métropole are thus prohibited from the circulation of Crit'Air 3 vehicles.
This corresponds to Euro 4 diesel cars (or, failing that, the date of first registration from 2006 to 2010) and Euro 2 and 3 gasoline cars (or, failing that, the date of first registration from 1997 to 2005), or even both -Euro 2 motorized wheels (or, failing that, the date of first registration from July 1, 2004 to 2006).
Other EPZs will tighten their entry criteria, while some will be newly created.
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Temporary respite for the ecological penalty
Established in 2008, the system of ecological bonuses and penalties was supposed to be fiscally neutral, which has never really been the case, in one sense or the other. It could be beneficial for the State in 2024, because if the ecological bonus envelope is decreasing, the penalty scale should be further tightened. However, the censorship of the Barnier government and the rejection of the 2025 finance bill had the effect of maintaining the current system. This situation should only change during the year with the new vote on the finance bill.
We therefore do not yet know the future trigger threshold for the penalty, currently set at 118 g of CO2 per kilometer, and which should have been reduced to 113 g/km. The ceiling of the ecological penalty, currently set at €60,000, was to reach €70,000.
The weight penalty is still in effect from a mass in working order of 1.6 t. There was nevertheless talk of no longer exempting plug-in hybrid models, which would benefit from a reduction of 200 kg. 100% electric cars, on the other hand, should retain their exemption.
The price of registration cards is increasing in several regions
The registration certificate (gray card) is undergoing its small revolution in 2025 since it will no longer be sent by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, but via a tracked letter system that does not require a signature. However, this precious paper will cost more in 2025 in several regions, which can set the tax rate as they wish without exceeding a threshold of €60. The latter should now be reached by four regions in 2025: Brittany and Centre-Val-de-Loire, for which the increase reaches €3 compared to 2024, Grand-Est region, which should increase the cost of the tax horse by 12 € (to be confirmed) and Normandy, which is experiencing the highest inflation as in 2024, this time affected by an increase of €14 in the tax horse.
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Otherwise, the cost of the tax horse increases by €8 in New Aquitaine, reaching €53, and by €7.80 in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region to reach €59.
And many other new features
For the rest, the price of tolls will increase by 0.92% on February 1, 2025. Also, charging your electric vehicle at work will now be considered a benefit in kind and may therefore no longer be offered by certain companies.
Motorcyclists will be worried about the end of the inter-file traffic experiment set up in 2021 and which has been extended until December 31, 2024. If no measures are taken, the inter-file will no longer be authorized by law and will fall into a legal void. Furthermore, from March 1, 2025, the technical inspection of motorized 2-wheelers, motorized 3-wheelers and cars without a license will include a measurement of noise pollution. It was also a question of verifying that the vehicles have not been unrestrained, if necessary, but this measure planned for June 1, 2025 could be postponed to 2026 by a draft decree.
Finally, among the other new features initially imagined by the 2025 finance bill, an annex provided for the use of new radars capable of reporting several offenses (inter-distance, non-compliance with wearing a seat belt, hand-held telephone).
The deployment of anti-noise radars is also planned for 2025, as is the expansion of the fleet of radar cars. These unmarked vehicles, which can be driven by private companies or law enforcement, will operate in three new regions (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur).
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