Demand for France’s electric car scheme surged

A French car scheme that subsidises low earners to lease electric vehicles has been scaled up due to huge demand.  

The programme enables people who drive for work and earn less than €15,400 (£12,850) annually to lease an electric vehicle for €100-150 (£85-£128) per month.

The government initially offered 20,000 leases this year but has upped that to 50,000 due to demand. The scheme will now be paused until next year so that carmakers can produce more vehicles.

Only cars made in the EU are covered by the programme, described by the French government as a “real success story”, despite having to be paused.

The switch to electric vehicles is vital to reduce transport emissions. However, they come with their own environmental issues, which firms are racing to address.