Financial aid increases for communal EV charging points in France

The French government is increasing the financial aid available to install electric vehicle charging points in shared parking areas by more than 50% from April 1.

From tomorrow, the maximum amount available will increase from €8,000 to €12,500 (an increase of some 56%), particularly for shared buildings (such as apartment blocks) in areas where there are relatively few electric car charging points available. 

In addition, every extra parking space will be eligible for up to €125 in aid, up from €75 previously.

The maximum amount of aid will be available for communal parking areas with up to 100 spaces, to fund up to half of the work cost amount (estimated at €25,000). 

For communal parking areas that are outdoors (rather than inside a parking garage), the amount available for extra security costs is increasing from €5,000 to €8,000 for areas with up to 100 spaces, plus €80 extra per additional space.

“We have [historically had] very low demand for connections in exterior car parks, as they are more difficult to equip,” said Ludovic Coutant, Advenir programme director, to BMFTV. 

Owners of private parking spaces in communal car parks can now benefit from €1,000 of aid, up from €600 previously (although the aid is not available for people wanting to install an electric charger at their own home, e.g. on their driveway).

More charging points with no upfront costs

The aid is available through the ‘Advenir’ programme, which is overseen by the government and managed by Avere-France (l’association nationale pour le développement de la mobilité électrique, the national electric transport development association). The scheme has a budget of €520 million, and is aiming to help fund the installation of 250,000 charging points by 2027.

Property co-owners are also being encouraged to use government-assisted groups such as Logivolt. As a subsidiary of French public finance institution la Caisse des dépôts, this can advance funds needed so that charging points can be installed without any upfront costs.

This makes it much more likely that housing association managers will be able to get support from all co-owners in the property when voting on the idea, and ensure that the charging points will be installed.

“With our financing solution, co-owners’ associations have no (upfront) payment,” said Pierre Eymard, CEO of Logivolt, to BFMTV. “Without this, general meetings often vote against the proposal.”

Since its launch in 2016, the Advenir programme has funded around 47,000 charging points and equipped 6,500 buildings. Estimates suggest that there are nearly 160,000 buildings which could have charging points installed in the near-future.

Easier EVs

The programme is part of the government’s goals to make it easier for people to own electric vehicles, with at-home overnight charging much cheaper than expensive-but-faster charging at public service stations, such as those along national motorways. 

At-home chargers cost an average of €3 per 100km range, while motorway chargers can cost up to €9 or above for the same range, show figures from electricity company EDF.

At the end of 2025, France had around 185,000 charging points open to the public (council-run stations, petrol stations, public car parks), 1.1 million in company car parks, and 1.6 million at private homes, estimates electricity network operator Enedis.

Depending on the region, there are between 223-382 charging points per 100,000 inhabitants, with this amount expected to double by 2030.

Electric on the rise

Sales of electric cars in France are on the rise; in February, sales grew by almost 30% year-on-year, and accounted for more than a quarter (27%) of all new car registrations for the first time. In 2025, electric cars accounted for one in five new registrations in France – another record after 17% in 2023 and 2024.

Renault has pledged to switch to electric- and hybrid-only sales for new vehicles by 2030.

In July last year, help to buy electric cars for individuals changed when the government ended the bonus écologique incentive, which provided up to €4,000 for eligible private buyers, in favour of a new scheme called the coup de pouce véhicules particuliers électriques.

The new incentive falls under the certificats d’économie d’énergie scheme, under which French energy suppliers are obliged to fund or deliver energy-saving measures, such as electric vehicle incentives, to meet national efficiency targets, or face financial penalties.

Financial aid of €4,200 is available for low-income households and €3,100 for high-income households. The category applicants fall into depends on their revenu fiscal de référence (taxable income).

By 2035, 90% of vehicles produced by manufacturers in the European Union will be required to have zero emissions.