Barthélémy Philippe // Photo credit: FRANK HOERMANN / SVEN SIMON / SVEN SIMON / DPA PICTURE-ALLIANCE VIA AFP 11:11 a.m., December 15, 2023

A new electric vehicle, for only 100 euros per month: this is the promise of social leasing, launched this Friday. The aim is to make the transition to electric vehicles more accessible for the most modest households. But who will really benefit from it? Europe 1 takes stock of the situation.

That was one of his campaign promises last year. On Thursday, Emmanuel Macron launched his social leasing scheme with great fanfare. The idea is to allow the most modest households to rent an electric car for 100 euros per month.

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Only 20,000 to 25,000 vehicles available in 2024

To find out if you are eligible, you will need to log in to the monleasingelectrique.gouv.fr website. If this is the case, you will be able to submit an application from 1 January, with a promise in sight: that 50% of the poorest French people can claim the scheme.

But in 2024, there will only be 20,000 to 25,000 cars available. The target has therefore been tightened, explains Minister Christophe Béchu. "We really started from two criteria. Driving more than 8,000 kilometres a year for professional reasons or living more than 15 kilometres from where you work," he says.

Low reference tax income

The third criterion is the reference tax income, which must not exceed €15,400 per year, i.e. around €3,300 net per month for a couple with one child. Finally, the available models are also eligible for the new ecological bonus, the thinly veiled objective of which is to favour vehicles made in Europe.

For all these cars, the rent will vary from 54 euros for the new electric Citroën C3, to 149 euros for the Peugeot e2008, all this without including insurance.