France prepares subsidised electric-car leasing plan at $100 per month

France is readying a plan to subsidise electric-car leasing as part of President Emmanuel Macron’s campaign pledge to make them more affordable. 

The scheme will make EVs available for 100 euros ($100) a month, Budget Minister Gabriel Attal said on Sunday on LCI television, noting that the cost is less than what many people spend on gasoline. The government is working on how quickly the measure can be rolled out and the availability of EVs, he said. 

Macron promised a state-sponsored leasing program for low-income households to counter criticism that even with subsidies, EVs are still out of reach for many.

The French government offers subsidies of as much as 6,000 euros for the purchase of EVs costing less than 47,000 euros, with possible additional aid under a cash-for-clunkers program for old combustion-engine vehicles. EVs represented 12 per cent of new car sales in France in the first seven months of 2022. “We know that for many French they remain very expensive,” Attal said Sunday. 

The leasing measure stands to benefit European carmakers rolling out new electric models including Renault SA, Volkswagen AG and Peugeot and Citroen-maker Stellantis NV.

France will maintain caps on power prices into next year in a bid to protect households from spiraling rates.

Prices will be “contained” in 2023 and consumers won’t be asked to pay the difference between increasing costs and current price limits, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire was quoted as saying Saturday by France Info radio. The government has capped the increase in power prices at 4 per cent through the end of the year.

France’s promise comes as household bills in the UK are set to jump in October after a cap on costs was increased. Faced with spiraling electricity prices, the European Union is to call an emergency meeting of energy ministers to discuss bloc-wide solutions and implications for heating and industrial activity this winter.

The price of power in Europe’s two key markets, France and Germany, surged more 25 per cent on Friday and has been setting records almost daily. The increases are due to a slump in nuclear electricity generation in France and the restriction by Russia of natural gas supplies.

The French government is considering a system for households and small businesses this winter under which they would get preferential power rates in exchange for agreeing to cut back on use during periods of high demand, like very cold days, AFP reported.

This has been in place for years for big industrial power users, who agree to cut back on production when electricity supply is tight. 

Europe is fearing energy price rise. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said the government needs to address soaring power prices “with the utmost urgency,” as a leading economist warned of a “gigantic shock” to Europe’s biggest economy.

 The power market should be overhauled so that prices are no longer coupled to ever-more expensive gas, generating 

billions of euros in profits for operators of wind, solar and coal facilities “at the expense of consumers,” he added.