Here’s Where Electric Cars Are Selling The Most, And It Ain’t Necessarily In Town [Cartes] – electric car in Brittany

ZFEs favorable to cars that emit less pollutants into the air, service stations abandoned by TotalEnergies to prepare for the transition to electric, purchase aid for changing engines, a strong increase in sales of electric cars… With or without desire, our automobile habits are changing and more and more people are opting for an electric motor for a new car, only this evening for financial, ecological or regulatory reasons. Where are the sales by territory? How can these increases be explained?

In 2022, more than 200,000 new electric cars were registered, including 10,000 in Brittany, according to figures from the Ministry of Ecological Transition. For the first time, more than one new car in ten sold was therefore 100% electric. The proportion is similar – and even a little higher – in Brittany.

The assessment of passenger car registrations is disseminated by the Ministry at the level of each municipality. The sales volumes are, logically, sometimes not very important, but make it possible to know the number of new or used cars registered according to the domicile of the person holding the gray card.

The outer suburbs of Rennes and Finistère-Nord around Brest stand out, as well as certain towns on the coast. Limiting ourselves to municipalities having recorded at least 10 new car registrations in 2022, Kersaint-Plabennec (29) shows the highest proportion: out of 16 in total, 11 were electric. With at least fifty registrations, the municipalities of Ille-et-Vilaine (Liffré, Thorigné-Fouillard) but also Finistère (Ploudalmézeau, Lopheret, Gouesnou, Plabennec, Plougastel-Daoulas) have between a quarter and a third of electric.

To limit the “distorting” effect of small sales volumes, it is possible to aggregate registrations in a living area. The very large suburbs of Rennes and the tip of Nord-Finistère still stand out, as well as the coast: in the living area of ​​Moëlan-sur-Mer (29), around forty new electric cars account for a fifth of sales.

New car figures can be skewed by corporate car purchases. So what about the second-hand market, which concerns almost exclusively individuals? It is still very low, with less than 1% of acquisitions in electricity. Similar areas stand out despite everything: in Locmaria-Plouzané (29), Saint-Armel (35), Cesson-Sévigné (35), Carantec (29), Vern-sur-Seiche (35), where there are several hundreds of second-hand sales, the share of electric vehicles reaches 4 to 6%, against an average of 1%.

The living areas of Concarneau, Fouesnant and the tip of Audierne have several dozen second-hand electric vehicles acquired. A small share (around 2%), but only a small number of living areas reach it.

This sales breakdown is the result of multiple ingredients that shape car purchases. Yoann Demoli, sociologist and co-author of Sociologie de l’automobile, underlines the fact that electric power only exists on the new car market, which only covers 20% of registrations; the profile of buyers is similar to that of new thermal cars. The price, and therefore the purchasing power, as well as the place of living in a single-family home, also explain why buyers opt for an electric car.

At this point, no. The increase in sales of electric cars is significant, on paper, but it is also linked to the very low number of vehicles concerned before. Apart from sales, moreover, the fleet in circulation remained extremely less electric, on January 1, 2022. For the moment, the purchase of electric cars does not replace thermal cars: used for business trips, they come in addition to gasoline or diesel for long journeys.

Many obstacles still exist, which are not only logistical or financial. The issue of battery life is one of the reasons for hesitating about a purchase, according to opinion polls. The sociologist Yoann Demoli thus estimates that “it will be necessary to wait another eight to ten good years” before electric cars really become established, and still “about thirty years” before the thermal car fleet goes out. .

What financial aid to buy an electric car?

As of January 1, 2023, aid for the purchase of an electric vehicle has been modified. The amount has increased from 6,000 to 5,000 euros for most private buyers, and new criteria have been introduced, targeting the most modest households. Plug-in hybrids are also no longer affected.

Where are the charging stations located?

The situation is changing with regard to the network of accessible charging stations, and the information on this subject. Recent rules provide that the location and technical characteristics of the installations supported by local authorities be disseminated. Elements made available on this subject by Etalab make it possible to identify the location of the terminals listed in Brittany, which can be consulted on the map below.