By 2030, they want electric cars to account for 66% of sales. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the gasoline car is about to become a museum piece! Last Monday, during a presentation as solemn as a New Year's speech, these three valiant ministers raised the curtain on the new National Low-Carbon Strategy (SNBC) and the Multi-Annual Energy Program (PPE).
The purpose of this transition
The objective is to boost electricity, even if it means that thermal engines become relics to be admired at the transport museum, framed with “pre-electric era” labels. You will be able to say goodbye to the smell of gasoline in 2030, make way for the sweet notes of electricity!
And as if France wanted to show all of Europe that it is the champion of “low carbon”, it is setting even more ambitious objectives than its neighbors.
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Between us, it's a bit as if France had signed up for a climate ultra-marathon, reaching 66% of sales of electric vehicles in 2030 and a fleet with at least 15% electric cars. Two figures that sound like promises of renewal for dealerships and car manufacturers.
So that all this does not remain a sweet dream, the ministers invite the French people to a public consultation, open until December 15, 2024. To give everyone a chance to opt for a future without smoking exhaust pipes, without the sound of roaring engines – but where the charging sockets will be the new petrol stations, and where the beep-beep of the vehicle charging will replace the clicking of the pumps.
A transition but at what cost?
That said, there is nothing to jump for joy right away, transport, it should be remembered, represents 32% of greenhouse gas emissions. “A third of the problem, a third of the solution,” asserts François Durovray. Translation, we will have to reduce our journeys, compact our trips and, above all, electrify everything that rolls, swims, and could even fly in the not-so-distant future.
This is therefore France's ambition: a territory where the greening of the roads is much more than a poetic expression. With the support of local communities and the enthusiasm of motorists who have become electric drivers, the road to 2030 will certainly be long, but it promises to be much quieter, just the gentle purring of electric motors, in symphony for a carbon-free future.
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In short, France is embarking on an electric epic with a stated ambition: transforming the roads and greening journeys by 2030. The country is not afraid to make daring bets by targeting 66% of electric car sales. and a 15% electrified fleet.
It remains to be seen whether ministerial enthusiasm will be enough to embark the French on this adventure where, one day, the only traces left on the roads will be those of ecological tires, and not carbon dioxide.
We are already imagining a future where, after having abandoned the sweet scent of fuel, we will only swear by charging stations… and perhaps a hint of nostalgia for the roaring era of thermal engines.
