Ecological bonus-malus: less aid, more penalties, the scale will become stricter in 2025

The ecological bonus-malus will evolve again in 2025. State aid for the purchase of an electric vehicle will be reduced and penalties for polluting vehicles will be higher.

The ecological bonus-malus will change again next year. And once again, not in favor of motorists. In search of savings, the government proposed its 2025 finance bill on October 10, 2024 and it is clear that the automobile industry will not escape budget cuts. With the bonus being reduced, the CO2 penalty and the weight penalty gradually being increased, buying a vehicle will certainly be less advantageous for millions of French people next year.

The envelope for support for the purchase of electric cars will increase from 1.5 to 1 billion euros in 2025. The ecological bonus, introduced in France in 2017 to help households when purchasing a new electric vehicle, will therefore bear the brunt of this new cut in state aid. Reduced from 5,000 to 4,000 euros in 2024, it should be reduced by a further thousand euros in 2025 to reach 3,000 euros (it could remain at 7,000 euros for the most modest households). As a reminder, the ecological bonus is only awarded only on cars costing less than 47,000 euros and, since 2024, only concern models manufactured in Europe.

In addition to this reduction in aid, the government has also chosen to tighten the scale of the ecological penalty a little more. The penalties attributed to manufacturers on the price of their most polluting vehicles will concern more models. And for good reason, the threshold of the scale on the emission of carbon dioxide will gradually lower over the next three years. From 5 grams of CO2 per kilometer in 2025, then 7 grams in 2026 and 2027. The threshold for triggering the penalty will therefore increase from 118 g/km in 2024 to 113 g/km on January 1, 2025, then to 106 g/km on January 1, 2026 and finally to 99 g/km as of January 1, 2027.

At the same time, the maximum penalty rate will increase by 10,000 euros per year. Fixed at 60,000 euros in 2024 for vehicles that emit more than 193 grams of CO2 per kilometer, it will gradually increase to reach 90,000 euros in 2027. In addition to this CO2 emission criterion, there is the weight penalty. This tax on the mass in running order (TMOM) will also change, but not next year. While it will still apply to vehicles weighing more than 1.6 tonnes in 2025 (compared to 1.8 tonnes in 2023), those weighing 1.5 tonnes will also be affected from 2026. To find out everything about the new ecological bonus-penalty, follow the guide!

The ecological bonus is a sum of money allocated to purchasers of new vehicles that emit little CO2. The amount of the bonus is deducted from the purchase price of the vehicle if the dealer agrees to advance the amount of the bonus. Otherwise, the purchaser of the vehicle must request payment of the bonus by sending a bonus payment request form to the Agency for Services and Payment (ASP). À Conversely, the ecological penalty increases the purchase price of highly polluting vehicles. The penalty is paid when the vehicle is registered.

The bonus-malus system applies to new private vehicles purchased in France or abroad. The ecological penalty concerns vehicles whose first registration in France was carried out after August 1, 2008. The ecological bonus, introduced in France in 2017, concerned all electric cars (up to a certain price) or hydrogen cars until December 15, 2023. Since then, only vehicles meeting certain criteria are eligible (read: Which cars are eligible for the ecological bonus in 2024 ?)

In 2025, the ecological bonus ceilings will certainly change. Here are the amounts that should be valid at least until December 31, 2025:

• The ecological bonus will probably be reduced to 3,000 euros for individuals, compared to 4,000 in 2024, except for those who can prove a reference tax income per share of less than or equal to 14,089 euros, in which case the government aid is higher. From 7,000 euros in 2024, it could remain so even if the question has not yet been decided.
• The purchase price of the new electric vehicle must be less than 47,000 euros.
• The amount of aid reaches a maximum of 37% of the purchase price of the vehicle + the cost of the battery if it is offered for rental.

It existed but no longer exists since December 31, 2022. Before this date, government aid was much less than for an electric car since its amount was 1,000 euros for a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) worth up to 50,000 euros, whose CO2 rate was between 21 and 50 g/km, and whose autonomy &eac;was greater than é 50 kilometers.

The amounts of the penalty will probably change in 2025 with a trigger threshold lowered again. The bar will rise next year to 113 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) released per kilometer compared to 118 grams in 2024. This decrease will continue for the following two years, with the government wanting to reduce the first threshold by 7 grams in 2026 and by another 7 grams in 2027. Also, the maximum amount of the penalty, which had been set at 60,000 euros in 2024 for vehicles emitting more than 193 grams of CO2 per kilometer traveled, will increase by 10,000 euros for each of the next three years. It would therefore reach 70,000 euros in 2025, 80,000 euros in 2026 and 90,000 euros in 2027.

As a reminder, here is the scale of the ecological penalty in 2024:

• At 118 grams of CO2:  50 euros of ecological penalty will have to be added to the price of the car.
• We then add 25 euros per additional gram of CO2 up to 122 grams/CO2.
• We then add 20 euros per additional gram of CO2 up to 126 grams/CO2.
• At 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer, the ecological penalty amounts to 310 euros (compared to 210 euros in 2023)
• At 140 grams of CO2 per kilometer, the ecological penalty rises to 983 euros (compared to 540 euros in 2023).
• At 150 grams of CO2 per kilometer, the ecological penalty rises to 2,049 euros (compared to 1,504 euros in 2023).
• At 160 grams of CO2 per kilometer, the ecological penalty rises to 4,279 euros (compared to 3,119 euros in 2023).
• At 170 grams of CO2 per kilometer, the ecological penalty rises to 8,770 euros (compared to 5,715 euros in 2023).
• At 180 grams of CO2 per kilometer, the ecological penalty rises to 22,380 euros (compared to 9,550 euros in 2023).
• At 190 grams of CO2 per kilometer, the ecological penalty rises to 45,990 euros (compared to 14,881 euros in 2023).
• From 194 grams of CO2: you will have to add 60,000 euros of ecological penalty to the price of the car.

Well yes! The ecological bonus is also valid under certain conditions for used vehicles. The amount is then 1,000 euros for the purchase (or long-term rental via a LLD contract), only on the used electric vehicle emitting a maximum of 20 grams of CO2 per kilometer. The ecological penalty existed, but was deleted.