Plug-In Electric Car Sales France Hit Massive Record In June 2020

Strong incentives played a role here.

By: Mark Kane

Jul 13, 2020 at 10:03am ET

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France, after a weak April, and not as bad May, had a tremendous June, which brings all the monthly plug-in car sales stats to new records.

The total number of new plug-in car registrations is 22,630, several thousand above the previous monthly record, and up 231% year-over-year.

The passenger all-electric car registrations were a record (13,728), commercial all-electric car registrations hit a record (1,596) and passenger plug-in hybrid car registrations soared to a record (7,307).

By the way, the general passenger car market was at 233,820 (up 1.2% year-over-year).

Passenger BEVs: 13,728 (up 205%), at 5.9% of the market
Passenger PHEVs: 7,307 (up 446%), at 3.1% of the market
Light commercial BEVs: 1,596 (up 63%)
Total plug-ins: 22,630 (up 231%)

Plug-in car sales in France – June 2020

Sales year-to-date:

Passenger BEVs: 44,978 (up 114%)
Passenger PHEVs: 20,289 (up 158%)
Light commercial BEVs: 3,893 (down 9%)
Total plug-ins: 69,160 (up 108%)

*some data on the charts are estimated

This is not the typical rebound from the COVID-19 lockdown. The main reason for such a big shoot-up seems to be the new package of incentives for plug-ins (available by the end of 2020).

The package includes:

increased purchase bonus for all-electric cars to €7,000 for individuals (from €6,000 previously) and to € 5,000 for fleets (up from €3,000); with a price cap of €45,000
BEVs with price between €45,000 and €60,000 can get €3,000 bonus.
Those who earn less than €18,000 per year can also get additional €5,000 for switching from ICE to BEV (new or used)
new €2,000 bonus for plug-in hybrids, but the EV range must be at least 50 km (31 miles) WLTP and price must be up to €50,000
support expansion of the charging infrastructure (to 100,000 by the end of 2021)

In total, one might get €12,000 ($13,550) for buying an electric car. It's not strange that they are selling like hotcakes. It would be difficult to find a better deal than going electric.

By the way, the leases become extraordinarily cheap like a Kia Niro EV (e-Niro) for less than €50 a month. See it with your own eyes here (in French).

Models

The top-selling model was - of course - Renault ZOE with a massive 6,012 new registrations (plus another 400, registered as commercial vehicles.

The second top choice was its direct competitor - Peugeot e-208 (2,127 + 93 commercial), supported by Opel Corsa-e (300). Then we see strong sales from the Hyundai Kona Electric (620) and Tesla Model 3 (620).

What do you think?

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The top van was Renault Kangoo Z.E. (778), while the top plug-in hybrid Peugeot 3008 PHEV (768).

Detailed numbers of plug-in car registrations were provided by L’Avere-France: