According to a study, the French are considering the end of 100% thermal by 2040 but remain attached to it, and reserved as to the virtues of all electric. The rapid adoption of “zero emissions” is not the majority at the individual level but desired at the level of communities and companies.
At the end of COP 26, while the European Commission aims to stop new thermal vehicles by 2035 and that France has more and more ZFE (Low Emission Zones), the energy supplier OVO Energy and the Ifop institute conducted a study * on the perception that the French have of electric cars, and more generally of the future of mobility. It emerges that, while believing that 100% thermal energy is living its last years, the French remain attached to it and are divided on the adoption of electric cars.
Thermal well-anchored in uses
Opinions diverge 50/50 as to whether the electric car is better for the environment than its thermal equivalent. They are 79% to have a good image of cars with combustion engines against 56% to be optimistic about the electric one. There are significant disparities depending on the living environment between the Parisian agglomeration, provincial urban municipalities and rural municipalities. The further one moves away from large cities, the less popular the electric car is. These proportions are directly linked to the use that the French make of their car: the more it is frequent, the less the electric seems desirable. But regardless of the environment, diesel cars remain the most popular, ahead of gasoline models, then electric ones.
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The large difference in electricity between purchase price and cost at the charging station
Considered “ecological” by only 33% of those questioned, the electric car has more economic than environmental advantages according to them. 40% of participants believe that high fuel prices could make them switch to electric, which seems to support the policies of increasing fuel taxes for this purpose. However, the adjective most used (60%) to describe electric cars is “expensive”, ahead of “silent” (56%).
According to this survey, one of the main obstacles to the adoption of the electric car is its price, just behind its low range and ahead of the lack of charging infrastructure.
The hybrid seen as the future of the automobile
This sharing of opinions is reflected in the perception of the future of daily mobility by the French people questioned. For 39%, it is indeed the hybrid. But it is regrettable that the study does not distinguish between simple hybrid and plug-in hybrid, the advantages and disadvantages of these two types of hybridization being very different. Estimating at 73% that electrification is driven by political, media and family pressure, the majority of respondents nevertheless think (66%) that 100% thermal cars will no longer circulate in 2040 and therefore place electric in second place. (36%) mobility of the future. Thermal cars are therefore only considered at 20%, ie as much as the bicycle.
Electric mobility in the city, a stake in the presidential election?
The French are unanimous (86%) on the need for France to reduce its CO emissions2. But on an individual basis, this first involves reducing the purchase of products from abroad (40%), lowering the heating in winter (35%) and promoting walking or cycling for daily journeys (28%). , far ahead of the change of car for an electric (17%). 41% of them would still opt for a 100% thermal car if they had to change vehicle this year. The hybrid is coming 2th with 32% of choices, ahead of electric and its 15%. Note the 8% harvested by hydrogen cars, and 4% for natural gas fueled cars. And if nearly 7 in 10 French people think that combustion engines will be banned in city centers by 2030, they are only 30% to approve this ban.
On the other hand, 57% of respondents believe that their city should upgrade its fleet of public service vehicles to all electric, and 64% think that companies should do the same. Participants also plead 85% for companies to install charging stations in their car parks, and 76% so that they reduce the journeys of their employees.
41% of participants say they are ready to vote for a candidate supporting low CO emissions transport2 in the 2022 presidential election; this proportion rises to 58% among those under 35. As candidates of all stripes prepare their programs for the official launch of the campaign, this study may give them some ideas.
* A representative sample of 1,007 adults was interviewed online between 1er and October 7, 2021.
