First prize: 21,600 euros, without public aid.
This is at least what you have to pay for the purchase of a 100% electric car.
In this case a Skoda Citigo, the cheapest model on the market.
With the ecological bonus (7,000 euros or 27% of the price of the car), the price drops to 15,768 euros.
And if you ever have an old jaw harp (a pre-2011 diesel or a pre-2006 gasoline) to scrap, it's still 5,000 euros less.
Awarded therefore at… 9,600 euros.
Explanations.
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Only aid can bring the price down below 10,000 euros
The electric car for less than 10,000 euros is already a reality.
Skoda Citigo, but also Seat Mii Electric, Smart EQ Fortwo Coupé, Volkswagen e-Up and other Renault Zoé ZE50 are accessible under or around this very symbolic threshold.
But - because there is necessarily a “but” - with conditions that are still extremely restrictive.
Indeed, it is impossible to achieve such a price without substantial state aid, which can currently go up to 12,000 euros.
And it is thanks to them that sales of 100% electric cars to individuals more than doubled between 2019 and 2020, going from 26,200 to 60,500 in a difficult economic context.
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Except that these aids will be revised downwards from January 1, 2021. Moreover, do not expect at this price to pay yourself transfers throughout France.
The average autonomy of these small city dwellers hardly exceeds 200 km.
And again, when the conditions (temperature, driving, terrain) are favorable.
The price remains - with autonomy - one of the main obstacles to the acquisition of an electric car.
Manufacturers are therefore mobilizing their research and development teams to reduce production costs, while trying to maintain an acceptable level of finish and performance.
The race between the French manufacturers
The challenge was taken up by Renault in particular.
The diamond brand, which already markets the best-selling electric car in France, the Zoe, has announced the arrival in spring of 2021 of a little piece of news that should make noise, even with a 100% silent engine: the Dacia Spring , first low cost electric.
A weapon undoubtedly effective to face the offensive to come of certain competitors on this same niche.
Starting with its most immediate competitor, PSA, whose primary objective is to tackle the cost of the battery.
This represents 40% of the final price of the electric car.
“For this, we have joined forces with Total, as part of a joint venture, ACC, for Automotive Cells Company,” explains a spokesperson for the group.
With the aim of manufacturing our own accumulators, in Nersac, in New Aquitaine.
And so to lower the prices.
"
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One of the group's five brands, Citroën, launched the highly iconoclastic Ami in May.
Sold at 6,000 euros (after deducting the 900 euros bonus), this micro-urban without a license has attracted 1,700 buyers in a few weeks.
Already at CES in Las Vegas, in 2018, the French automotive supplier Valeo surprised by showing that it was possible to design a 100% electric car that was much cheaper, from a lower voltage motor (48 volts). .
Citroën wanted to demonstrate with the Friend, equipped with the same engine produced in France, at Etaples (Pas-de-Calais), that the concept was available in series.
Beyond this product for the moment anecdotal, PSA aims to market 12 electric models by next year.
And 100% of its models will offer an electric or hybrid version by 2025. However, the group does not specify whether one of them will position itself as a competitor of the Spring.
China is also targeting the European market
By then, China will not have failed to make people talk about it in the field of low cost electric cars.
On the strength of its position as the world's leading producer of batteries, the country wishes to quickly return to conquering the European automobile market, after a first abortive attempt in the 2000s. "The offensive will indeed be via electricity," confirm Jean-Michel. Prillieux and Jamel Taganza, from Inovev, a specialist in the automotive market.
China is mobilizing colossal means to dominate this technology and further lower prices.
It will rely for this on the power of its local market and its 30 million cars sold per year.
Or a third of world production.
"
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Another player in the electric sector, and not the least, also places its pawns: Elon Musk.
In a recent series of tweets, the media boss of Tesla announced the launch within three years of an electric car at 25,000 dollars (about 21,300 euros) by halving the cost of its batteries.
Not really low cost, but all the same a strategic step forward for a brand whose first price usually starts around 50,000 dollars (around 42,700 euros).
Proof, if there is one, that the future of electricity will go through a more accessible offer.
Renault Zoe, Peugeot e-208, Tesla Model 3, Hyundai Kona: their pluses and minuses
RENAULT ZOÉ
Its pluses:
its value for money, undoubtedly one of the best electrics.
The latest version of the Zoe (the first came out in 2012) combines the pleasure of driving with surprising performance (recovery, range, handling) for a car of this range and category.
Its minuses:
a somewhat rough finish in some places, a rather weak charger.
PEUGEOT e-208
Its pluses:
the excellent level of finish, road handling and performance, worthy of a sporty thermal, as well as the line and originality of the cabin and the driving position.
Its minuses:
its price, higher than that of its competitors, the poor visibility of the dashboard due to the steering wheel.
TESLA MODEL 3
Its pluses:
a very good level of equipment, Autopilot (the optional autonomous driving system, certainly one of the best in the world), autonomy of 400 km and access to the network of Tesla Superchargers which allow it to be the main vehicle of the household.
Its minuses:
small turning radius.
HYUNDAI KONA
Its advantages:
a perfect mastery of electrical technology, an exemplary level of finish for a completely competitive autonomy (300 km), even with the small battery of 39 kWh (a more powerful, of 64 kWh, allows to reach the 480 km of autonomy).
Its minuses:
the trunk volume, a bit tight for this segment.