Ecological Penalty: €80,000 in 2026 and €100,000 in 2028!

The Lecornu government’s finance bill outlines the upcoming insane roadmap for ecological penalty totally focused on combustion engines.

Money must be found everywhere, again and again, by ever increasing taxes. But this approach will eventually kill the patient, as often happens when a country’s finances are managed by politicians who have never run a business. Including a SME…

Thus, the French State is panicking, as if no simulations had been carried out beforehand: there is no more money to fund the ecological bonus and the transition to electric. Yet, it was obvious that the money collected from penalties would only decrease over time, while the financial burden of bonuses would skyrocket.

And by increasing each year the amount of ecological penalties on thermic vehicles, the opposite effect would occur. That is an acceleration in the switch to electric and a collapse in tax revenues! The example of so-called “high-polluting” vehicles is symptomatic, with penalties rising to €80,000 by 2026, €90,000 in 2027… and very likely €100,000 in 2028!

You might be interestedin this article:

Electric Car

18/10/2025 8:46

UK Bans Tesla Model Y Standard?

Ecological Penalty, a Confiscatory Tax?

With an amount of €70,000 in 2025, the sole ecological penalty will thus be even higher from 2026 onwards. What’s the point, since this measure now accounts for only a tiny volume of cars each year? Pure demagogy?

Meanwhile, fewer expensive cars being sold means less VAT and fewer penalties collected, QED. Initiated in 2008, the ecological penalty used to tax the most polluting vehicles over 250 grams of CO2 per kilometer at €2,600. Today, this threshold has dropped to 194 grams and €70,000!

Another factor to consider: the cap that limited the penalty to 50% of the car’s sale price has disappeared. So, the penalty can now be higher than the purchase price! Is the world turning upside down?

Ecological Penalty 2026, Everyone Will Pay!

The ecological penalty therefore increasingly no longer lives up to its name, especially as the Prime CEE (the new mechanism for electric bonuses launched in July 2025) is no longer paid by the State, but by energy companies. Very convenient. But it still isn’t enough to fill France’s coffers.

Thus, the entire table of the ecological penalty in 2026 will shift further downward, with triggers starting at 108 g/km (compared to 113 g/km in 2025), dropping to 103 g/km in 2027… and 98 g/km in 2028!

This finance bill still needs to be approved, but the left-wing coalition in the Lecornu government will surely vote in favor of re-evaluating this confiscatory tax targeting the wealthy.

Oh, one last thing: if you switch to electric in 2026, the weight penalty, which is also added to the ecological penalty, will also apply to battery vehicles exceeding 2 tons. Bon appétit!