83% of French people believe that the rise in the price of electricity now represents a major obstacle to the purchase of an electric car, just after the price of this vehicle and autonomy.
This is a fairly logical consequence of the rise in the price of electricity: more and more motorists see it as a brake on the purchase of an electric car. This is the main conclusion of a study* commissioned by Leocare, a neo-insurer which claims in particular to cover 27% of Tesla cars in circulation in France.
What impact on sales of electric cars?
83% of French people see the rise in the cost of electricity as a brake on going electric. And this question of the price of the “fuel” of electric cars also appears as the third obstacle to the purchase cited spontaneously by the respondents, at 52%, after the purchase price of the vehicle, 74%, and autonomy, at 67%.
Purchasing intentions nevertheless remain quite strong, following on from a record year in terms of electricity sales in France. 26% of respondents indicate that they intend to buy an electric vehicle soon and only 18% “refuse” to buy one.
“These are responses in line with current society: the transition to electricity seems natural, obvious and necessary to us”, comments Christophe Dandois, CEO and co-founder of Leocare.
Another point cited by the study, the cost of maintenance: for 52% it is higher on an electric car than on a thermal vehicle, while the much less complex mechanics actually reduce the risk of breakdowns and require much less to go to the garage.
“We see that the general public is not yet certain that the maintenance of an electric car is less expensive with this perception of additional cost. Admittedly, the tires wear out more quickly, but it is the only source of budget on the rise, on the rest we really save money in use”, recalls Christophe Dandois.
A price shield to keep the advantage against thermals
With the price of recharging at the most powerful public terminals having doubled, going from 30 cents to around 60 cents per kWh in France in recent months, Leocare is looking for ways to lower the cost of car insurance, by 9.5% increase this year:
“For example, we can send prevention messages via our application during recharging: by exploiting this waiting time during recharging, we can thus reduce the loss ratio and therefore, ultimately, the cost of the premium. Or when registering a second driver, remember that the electric car can have quite lightning acceleration and therefore give some advice to avoid a somewhat stupid but unfortunately increasingly classic accident”.
Beyond the price, it is really the question of autonomy that remains cited by respondents as the main expectation for going electric, as also recently indicated by a Deloitte study.
And if the rise in the price of electricity can dissuade some people from going electric, the price difference with fuel remains a major incentive factor. Especially in a context where the tariff shield now also applies to vehicle charging:
“We must reassure potential buyers and remember that this crisis is temporary: to overcome this milestone, the government has moreover just put in place a tariff shield for charging for 2023. Today as tomorrow, the electric vehicle retains its economic advantage compared to a thermal vehicle”, underlines Clément Molizon, general manager of Avere.
*This study was conducted with a sample of 1,000 people representative of the French population aged over 18 (4 categories: 18-34, 35-49, 50-65 and over 66). The data was collected by means of an anonymous online questionnaire (10 questions) from January 24 to 28, 2023.
