Vincent Fredon, a 41-year-old Frenchman, drives an electric car every day from Cornil, a small town of about 1,500 inhabitants in central France, to his workplace, about 30 kilometers away. He has not had to invest thousands of euros in buying it, but pays only 76 euros per month. Both he and his wife, Mélanie, are among the 50,000 beneficiaries of the social leasing program promoted by the French government, which provides these vehicles to citizens with medium and low incomes who commit to renting them for at least three years for a monthly fee of around 100 euros —slightly more for larger models. The initiative has been so successful that it has run out in less than a month. Several entities have proposed a similar plan for Spain, and the government confirms that it is studying it.
Fredon explains that he and his wife joined the social leasing program because their daily commutes and the distance they travel to work each day are perfectly suited for the use of an electric vehicle, about 60 kilometers round trip. He mentions that economically, it is very interesting to schedule charges during off-peak hours at home, especially when the price of diesel is around 1.75 euros per liter. He pays 76 euros per month for a Renault Twingo e-tech, while his wife pays 176 euros for a larger Renault Mégane E-tech. They both meet the requirement of working more than 15 kilometers from their home and commit to paying for at least three years —if they travel more than 12,000 kilometers per year, there is a supplement.
The French government’s plan was to offer 25,000 vehicles, but due to the overwhelming number of requests —around 90,000— they doubled the number of available cars and closed the call in just one month. They have announced that the program will return next year. The initiative aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, which represents a revolution in the transport sector. The state pays 13,000 euros for each car, plus an additional 7,000 euros for the most modest households, resulting in monthly fees of 100 euros, significantly lower than market rates, enabling environmentally-friendly vehicle ownership.
In Spain, organizations have proposed a similar social leasing program, hoping to accelerate the adoption of electric cars among low-income groups. The proposal includes basic cars priced at around 20,000 euros, with individuals paying 90 euros per month for four or eight years, while the rest of the funding would be provided by the government. This initiative could contribute to replacing 39,000 combustion vehicles in just one year, saving around 50,000 tons of CO₂. The proposal is currently being studied by the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition.
Various associations in Spain have also presented proposals for social leasing of electric vehicles to the government, emphasizing the need to expand access to electric mobility to medium and low-income households. They believe that such initiatives could help reduce the number of older vehicles on the roads and promote the transition to electric vehicles. Leaders in the Spanish automotive industry see the social leasing program as a way to make electric vehicles more accessible to a wider range of users and to drive the market towards cleaner and more sustainable transportation options.
