Up to +3400 % more expensive: the price of the gray card of electric cars exploded from May 1, 2025

Until today, recording a zero emission vehicle was almost symbolic: € 13.76 on average, thanks to the exemption from the regional tax. Since 2020, this boost has aimed to stimulate the boom of electric and hydrogen in a still marginal market. But the exception fades.

On May 1, 2025, this advantage officially ended, except in Hauts-de-France where the total exemption is, for the moment, maintained. Everywhere else, the regions apply standard taxation, and that changes everything.

Green taxation that has become too generous

In 2019, electric cars barely represented 1.7 % of sales in France. Six years later, they weigh 17 % of the market. The bet of the transition seems successful, but this success has a cost.

The regions, direct beneficiaries of the tax on gray cards, saw it a considerable shortfall. In some communities such as Occitania, the lack of income related to electrical registrations represented up to 24 million euros per year. Worse: the recipes from thermal vehicles collapse with the fall in fuel and diesel sales.

The 2025 finance bill, adopted in February after intense parliamentary debates, gave carte blanche to the regions. Three options: total exemption, partial exemption at 50 %, or complete taxation. The regions did not hesitate.

Massive price increases

The price of the tax horse varies according to the territories – between 30 and 60 € on average. And the consequences are immediate:

• Renault 5 e-tech (5 tax cv)
  • Before: € 13.76
  • In Île-de-France: € 288.51
  • In Normandy: € 313.76
• Tesla Model Y (8 CV tax):
  • Before: € 13.76
  • In Île-de-France: € 453.36
  • In Normandy: € 493.76

Increases up to + 3,400 %, on models however supposed to embody the future of mobility. The gray card becomes a real expense post.

This reform comes even though The gray card is about to enter the digital agevia the France Identity application. It will soon be accessible from a smartphone, but that does not change the reality: dematerialized or not, it will weigh more in the auto budget.

In a few months, the signal sent by the public authorities has changed. Less ecological bonusmore taxation for purchase, a VAT always at 20 %: incentives melt like snow in the sun. Result: the electric car, formerly favored, becomes almost a car like any other … Tax speaking.

And this turn may well slow down a dynamic still fragile. Because if the electric is gaining ground, it remains inaccessible to a large part of the households. Weighing down the entry ticket amounts to restricting its adoption, in contradiction with the climatic objectives displayed.