ECOLOGICAL BONUS AND ECOLOGICAL MALUS. Established in 2008, the ecological bonus/penalty, which should encourage the French to buy less polluting vehicles, will evolve within the framework of the “green industry” law. The manufacturing conditions and the type of vehicle will in particular be taken into account from 1 January 2024.
[Updated July 28 at 3:38 p.m.] As announced by the government in May, the ecological bonus-malus will soon undergo new developments which will come into force on January 1, 2024. Until then only focused on gas emissions emissions emitted during driving by new electric vehicles, the ecological bonus-malus system will be extended to new criteria. Thus, the environmental performance of the production of electric cars and their assembly will now also be taken into account in the allocation of the ecological bonus-malus.
It “will be based in particular on the carbon footprint of the vehicle’s production”, specified the government in a press release published on Friday July 28, 2023. The CO2 emissions emitted by the materials used in the manufacture of cars and their transport (plane , boats, trains, etc. from their production plants will contribute an “environmental score” for each model.
To remain eligible for the ecological bonus, and therefore for the allocation of a bonus for buyers, these models will have to achieve a score, the calculation methods for which should be defined in the coming months. “This reform will allow us to reserve public support for electric vehicles which have the best carbon footprint and which are therefore produced in the most carbon-free countries and factories”, said Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy, Finance. and Industrial Sovereignty, with AFP.
Note that the manufacture of the battery, which generates high carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and the type of vehicle (city car, sedan, SUV) will also be taken into account in the calculation of this “environmental score”. The government’s ultimate objective will be to essentially promote the purchase of electric vehicles produced in France and Europe at the expense of those manufactured in the Asian market.
The ecological bonus appeared in France in 2008 to encourage buyers to invest in vehicles that are less bad for the environment. The idea is simple: the government offers bonuses for the purchase of the “cleanest” new cars, those that emit the least carbon dioxide (CO2). Premiums but also taxes, grouped together in the term malus, for the most polluting vehicles. This ecological bonus has already evolved many times since its creation, according to the environmental objectives set by the government, and today only concerns electric, hybrid or hydrogen vehicles. To find out all about the vehicles affected by the ecological bonus/penalty, the conditions for obtaining it and the scale in force in 2023, follow the guide!
The ecological bonus is a sum of money allocated to purchasers of new vehicles that emit little CO2. The bonus amount is deducted from the purchase price of the vehicle if the dealer agrees to advance the bonus amount. Otherwise, the purchaser of the vehicle must request payment of the bonus by sending a bonus payment request form to the Services and Payment Agency (ASP). Conversely, the ecological penalty increases the purchase price of highly polluting vehicles. The penalty is paid when the vehicle is registered.
The bonus-malus system applies to new private vehicles purchased in France or abroad. The ecological penalty concerns vehicles whose first registration in France was made after August 1, 2008. The ecological bonus now only concerned electric or hydrogen cars but a new, less significant aid was announced for hybrid vehicles in 2020 and was maintained in 2021 and in the 2022 then 2023 scale.
As with the electric car, there was an environmental bonus for buying a hybrid car. At present, the amount is 1000 euros for a rechargeable hybrid vehicle (PHV) of 50,000 euros maximum, whose CO2 rate is between 21 and 50 g/km, and whose autonomy is greater than 50km. This amount changed in July 2022, as the hybrid aid was then removed.
The scale of the ecological bonus was maintained in 2023. While waiting for a new scale, probably at the end of the year according to the terms set out on May 16 by the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire as part of the ” green industry bill”, here are the valid amounts of the 2023 ecological bonus:
The amounts of the penalty have changed in 2023 with a trigger threshold that drops again. Compared to 2022, the bar is now 122 grams compared to 127 grams in 2022.
Note: the 2023 ecological penalty can reach up to 50,000 euros for vehicles emitting 226 grams or more of CO2 per kilometre. However, the penalty cannot exceed 50% of the purchase price of the vehicle. The full table of the 2023 ecological penalty can be found on the Service-public.fr website.
Well, yeah ! The ecological bonus is also valid under certain conditions for used vehicles. The amount is then 1000 euros for the purchase (or long-term rental via an LLD contract), only on the used electric vehicle emitting a maximum of 20 grams of CO2 per kilometer. The ecological penalty existed but has been removed, only being payable when a vehicle is first registered.
