Electric car sales in France skyrocket spurred by the price of oil

France and Germany are by tradition, history, and commercial volume the two great engines of European industry, especially in the automotive sector, and possibly the two European giants are the representative examples of the state of the economy and industrial trends in the European Union.

Sales of pure electric cars during these summer months and the beginning of autumn have grown by 112% in France and 75% in Germany, and in the annual global accumulated since the beginning of 2026, electric car registrations have grown by 74.2% in France and 53.1% in Germany.

Energy prices and ‘social leasing’, keys to electric growth

The enormous growth in electric car sales in France and Germany has been driven by a favorable scenario conditioned by several factors. Firstly, the scenario of geopolitical instability has caused fuel prices (diesel and gasoline) to rise to levels never before seen on the Old Continent, which has generated an inflationary spiral that seems unstoppable. Many private users, but also self-employed individuals and professionals who need the vehicle as a work tool, have opted for fully electric vehicles that allow them to stay on the sidelines of oil prices and thus stabilize their monthly expenses.

To this drastic increase in fuel prices, we must also add the significant aid from the different administrations for the purchase of electric vehicles. France, for example, has a subsidy architecture significantly better than the Spanish one, since in the Gallic country, discounts and promotional aid are applied at the dealership, freeing electric vehicle buyers from having to perform bureaucratic and administrative procedures to be beneficiaries of the aid for the purchase of electric vehicles. Public aid, however, does not affect all electric vehicles in the same way. The aid for the purchase of electric vehicles in force this year only applies to electric cars that meet the requirement of the "three E's" (economic, European, and electric), that is, those cars with a price below 35,000 euros, manufactured in Europe, and with a fully electric mechanics.

France has also been the pioneer country in implementing the so-called social leasing or, which is the same thing, a program of aid and incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles for families with fewer resources and less purchasing power. This system has allowed more than 50,000 electric cars to be registered in France since the month of January, with a monthly fee of €200 (or even less) and direct purchase aid in the form of a bonus of up to 9,000 euros.

The social leasing system in France has allowed individuals with an annual income of less than 15,400 euros, or 39,600 euros for couples with children, to benefit from direct government subsidies, provided they drive more than 8,000 kilometers per year or live more than 15 kilometers from their workplace. These subsidies, which are applied without any initial deposit or down payment, are formalized through a three-year contract that is extendable and includes a non-mandatory purchase option at the end of the leasing or contract.

In the French case—a market with a traditionally very strong emotional bond with local manufacturers—this has translated into a large increase in Renault electric vehicles, especially the Renault 5 (an unprecedented success story not only in France), the new Renault Clio, and the Renault Scénic E-Tech, which in all three cases have far exceeded the registration numbers of the Tesla Model Y.

And what about Catalonia?

In Catalonia there is no direct aid system or social leasing similar to that of the French government. In fact, the powers regarding direct aid for the purchase of electric vehicles depend directly on the Spanish administration, in this case the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, an agency headed by the Catalan Jordi Hereu.

Grants for the purchase of electric vehicles in our country operate through a system of percentages categorized by the EEE system (economic, European, and electric). This means that the most significant grants can only be awarded to vehicles that meet the requirement of being electric, having an affordable passenger car price (less than 35,000 euros), and being produced in Europe. These economic, European, and electric vehicles will be eligible for the maximum possible amount of money, up to 4,500 euros, and 5,000 euros if they are vans. In the case of self-employed individuals, this grant can reach 6,000 euros, and for vans, up to 7,500 euros.