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PARIS — Most electric cars produced in Asia are likely to be excluded from France’s electric vehicle purchase subsidy scheme as of next year as Paris looks to clamp down on EVs from China.
The French government is set to issue a decree Tuesday that spells out new new criteria for awarding the subsidy; the list of eligible vehicles will be published in mid-December, a French government official told reporters today. The scheme pays up to €7,000 for lower-income people buying an EV and €5,000 for others.
Buyers of some Asian-made cars might still get the cash, “but it will not be the majority of them according to modeling we have done,” the official said, adding: “If you produce vehicles [in a country] with a very carbon-intensive energy mix, you will have a hard time remaining eligible for the bonus.”
The French Agency for the Ecological Transition will assess applications from carmakers and decide which models will still be eligible for the subsidy on the basis of a so-called “environmental score” — calculated using criteria such as materials, energy consumption, the type of battery, and the environmental impact of transporting the vehicle to Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron first announced the measure in May, something he said was needed to stop using “French taxpayers’ money” to subsidize car production outside the EU.
French officials have insisted that the new measure will be compatible with World Trade Organization rules.
