Retrofit: France releases 20 million euros in aid

This support is reserved for professionals, who will be able to submit their applications starting from November 15th.

The government has decided to release 20 million euros to accelerate the development of retrofit in France. The announcement was made by the Minister of Industry Roland Lescure during the Paris Motor Show.

This fund is reserved for sector professionals. It is mainly intended to help them reduce their production costs and thus their prices. Eligible companies will have two months to submit their applications starting from November 15th.

No Changes to the Standards

Currently, converting a combustion engine car into an electric vehicle still costs a lot, despite the bonus provided by the state. The development of retrofit is also hindered by the standards regulating the practice. The rules set out in the March 13, 2020 decree are quite strict. For example, the power of the electric motor must “be within the closed range of 65% – 100% of the maximum power of the original engine”. The most restrictive constraint concerns the weight of the retrofitted vehicle, which cannot exceed the original model’s weight by more than 20%. This effectively limits the size of the battery and therefore the vehicle’s range. For instance, a converted electric Renault Clio can hardly travel more than 100 km on a charge.

Read also: E-Core: an affordable retrofit kit for small motorcycles