Ajaccio (AFP)

A trendy but expensive alternative to deficient public transport and to traditional scooters deemed too dangerous, license-free carts are the new toys of the golden Mediterranean youth, from Corsica to the Côte d'Azur.

Baptiste, 17, poses proudly in front of his shiny red Ligier sport version bought 10,500 euros used.

Black imitation leather seats, Bluetooth, touchscreen tablet: far from the image of the "yogurt pot" long associated with these two-seater machines.

"It's really good", enthuses this final year student from a private high school on the chic rue Paradis in Marseille, where these carts abound: "I've been waiting for it for three years. I wanted to have my autonomy, I live in the 14th arrondissement, which is out of town and poorly served, ”he told AFP.

Laura came aboard her matte black Aixam, bought new for 18,400 euros.

His passenger laughs: "Your car is just plastic, and something bourgeois."

"It's a comfort," she said, grateful that she didn't live so far away.

"More and more young people have these cars without a license," confirms Ilan, 17, also a high school student, owner of a blue Ligier bought 11,000 euros used.

In fact, registrations of cars without a license (VSP) have almost doubled between 2016 and 2020 in Corsica, the increases being 45% in the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes and 30% in the Bouches-du-Rhône, according to AAAdata. , data expert on the French car fleet.

In total, 15,500 VSP were registered in 2020 in France, against 13,000 in 2016 (+ 16%).

In Ajaccio, September 16, 2021. Carts without a license are the new toys of Mediterranean golden youth Pascal POCHARD-CASABIANCA AFP / Archives

A success fostered by the legislation which since 2018 has made them accessible from the age of 14, against 16 years previously.

The only obligation: young drivers must pass the road safety certificate, or AM license, or eight hours of driving school lessons.

In Ajaccio, Alice has been equipped since her 14th birthday with a Chatenet CH26 bought new for 12,000 euros.

Her mother, Sylvie Didier, circulated with her in the early days to advise her.

From the outset, she had ruled out the scooter option, "too dangerous".

- Bridged at 45 km / h -

"Young people are much better protected, they are bodied, unlike electric scooters or scooters, they have a seat belt, and these cars are restricted to 45 km / h", confirms to AFP Anne Lavaud, general delegate of the road safety association which educates 700,000 children every year.

"At the beginning I found it a bit eccentric, especially considering the price," admits Alice's mother.

But living at the end of the Sanguinaires road, 8 km from the Lycée Fesch, in downtown Ajaccio, she could not see herself leaving her daughter at the mercy of "random bus passages" and could not ensure the outward journeys. - incessant returns.

"And that really does stretch them out," she explains: you have to fill up with gas, recharge a battery, manage parking lots, revisions, sometimes the pound.

And if these carts are expensive, they "consume little" and "sell very well".

"Alice has had it for almost 4 years and she now costs 9,600 euros", explains her mother: on the other hand, "insurance is very expensive, 1,100 euros per year", and "it's extremely noisy ".

A Friend, Citroën license-free car, September 16, 2021 in Ajaccio Pascal POCHARD-CASABIANCA AFP / Archives

To win over less affluent youth and compete with traditional manufacturers - mainly French family businesses (Aixam, Ligier, Microcar, Chatenet, Bellier) - Citroën launched the Ami in May 2020, a license-free electric car in the form of a small cube, sold 6,900 euros excluding ecological bonus of 900 euros.

According to the French brand, 77% of buyers are "a family with 2 teenagers, multi-motorized", the Friend being "the 2nd or 3rd means of household mobility", with "more than 40% of users who have less than 18 years ".

A model that seduced Rocc'Antone, 16, a first year student in Ajaccio, delighted with his "toy": "It is much more affordable and it is more practical to have an electric than to go to the pump" .

Three of his comrades made the same choice.

© 2021 AFP