The electric vehicle market is booming.
The sale of plug-in hybrid cars exploded in the first quarter of 2020 with an increase of 158%.
A craze of the population which is also interesting for the builders.
Daniel Fortin takes stock of a current economic issue.
This is a real breakthrough, electric cars experienced a new boom in the first quarter of this year and now represent 16% of the European market.
Yes a total of 447,000 battery cars were sold in the first three months.
There are two categories, pure electric - they have increased by 56% - and rechargeable hybrids - those which have both a heat engine and an electric battery -.
These represent the largest part of the market and also the largest increase, + 158%.
In total, the rise in power is very strong, it is 16% of total new car sales today, against 12% in the same quarter of 2020. Manufacturers are now putting the package on this type of vehicles because it allows them to keep up. their commitments to respect the CO2 standards imposed by Europe while maintaining their profitability.
But what explains this consumer craze for a car that is still expensive?
Precisely, it is not so expensive any more when one puts end to end the aid granted in various forms by the countries.
An electric or hybrid car ultimately costs roughly the same as a thermal car.
In France, for example, you are entitled to a bonus of 7,000 euros paid by the State, plus a conversion bonus of at least 2,500 euros if you release your old polluting car, nearly 10,000 euros in aid in all. .
In addition, we save a lot on use, recharging your car at home, every 400 kilometers, costs between 5 and 10 euros, it is very competitive if you want to buy clean driving.
Is the electric car a real progress for the environment?
So if we look at driving alone, yes, there is no picture in terms of CO2 emissions. But if we look at the manufacturing, that's another story. It is also the subject of many debates: the materials used, in particular to produce the batteries or the additional production of electricity that will cause the generalization of these cars in the world are indeed far from neutral in the balance sheet. carbon, but for manufacturers, the mass is said, Volkswagen promises that 60% of its production will be electric in 2030, for Stellantis, it will be 70% on the same date, we are really changing the world.