France plans to put obstacles in the way of electric cars arriving from outside Europe

The arrival of many Chinese brands on the European market has set off alarm bells in several countries, especially in the main producers of this type of vehicle. France is one of them, and its president, Emmanuel Macron, has announced a set of measures to prevent these brands and their electric cars from overtaking European brands.

One of these measures is to stop granting government aid for the purchase of electric vehicles to anyone who buys a car of this kind that comes from a country outside the European Union. This would lead buyers to opt first for a car of European origin.

Models and brands affected

For the time being, it is not known which brands will be affected by this measure, but it is expected that they will be all those that have begun to be deployed from China. However, according to Macron’s proposal, they will not be the only ones affected. The models imported from China also include cars from Tesla, for example.

But the consequences will go beyond cars originating in China and the United States. There are models from European brands that come from plants located in the Asian giant, so they could also be considered imported from China.

This includes the Dacia Spring, for example. It is the best-selling electric car in France, and the brand belongs to Renault, so a conflict of interest is foreseen in this measure. In addition, other brands such as Citroën want to start producing small, low-cost electric cars in India, so the measure will also affect them.

And the problem could become more serious, since Macron wants these measures not to apply only in France. The French president has raised the request to the European Council that this rule be applied across Europe. This means that European countries could withdraw subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles if they are not manufactured and assembled in Europe.

Spain does not contemplate this measure

In our country this measure is not contemplated, so we can be calm for the time being. In Spain there is no discrimination when granting aid for the purchase of an electric car. It makes no difference where it comes from. If it meets the conditions, it can be a beneficiary of these aids.