Everything is rolling for French cyclists! The executive detailed this Friday a new “bicycle plan” endowed with two billion euros, aimed at strengthening the practice of this soft mobility. The State plans to beef up its aid schemes for small and medium-sized towns and is extending its bicycle bonus until 2027. Consumers wishing to buy a bicycle can thus benefit from substantial aid, which can even reach several thousand dollars. euros, recalled Clément Beaune.
Asked at the microphone of Europe 1 this Friday morning, the Minister Delegate for Transport assured that individuals could receive “up to 3000 euros” for the purchase of an electric bicycle. A substantial sum which did not fail to make his interlocutor wince. And the member of the government confirms that this amount could be reached “only with state aid”, and therefore without counting local help, “for certain models and for the most modest households”. But is that really the case?
Contacted for the details of the calculation, the government has not yet come back to us. But the bicycle bonus is the main aid paid by the State for the purchase of new equipment and, soon, for second-hand equipment sold by professionals. Its payment and its amount are subject to conditions. The type of bike can influence the sum obtained, as well as its cost: according to the principle of communicating vessels, the more the equipment costs to buy, the higher the amount of the bonus bike. The conditionality of the aid also relates to the level of income of the beneficiaries. For example, the bonus is set at 150 euros for a bicycle without assisted pedaling acquired by a natural person with a reference tax income per share less than or equal to 6358 euros. However, it can go up to 400 euros for a bicycle with assisted pedaling, for a person with the same reference tax income. It can even climb to 2,000 euros in certain special cases, such as “for cycles fitted out to allow the transport of people or goods at the rear or front of the driver or to meet the needs of people with disabilities”.
To reach the 3,000 euros in state aid touted by Clément Beaune, it will be necessary to add to the bicycle bonus the conversion bonus, which applies to electrically assisted bicycles as well as to motorized vehicles. Here too, the conditions are numerous. To receive this aid, you must scrap a petrol vehicle built before 2006 or a diesel vehicle built before 2011 and have owned this vehicle for more than a year. The premium will then be 40% of the cost of the new electric bike, up to a limit of 1,500 euros, provided that your reference tax income does not exceed 22,983 euros. The ceiling of 1500 euros can however be raised to 3000 euros for French people with a reference tax income of less than 6359 euros or those with disabilities. In addition, a boost of 1,000 euros is added to the bonus for residents of a low-emission zone who have received local aid in this respect.
However, these additional aids to the bicycle bonus require you to part with your car or van, which is not always possible. They are however essential to reach the amount of 3000 euros advanced by the Minister of Transport on the subject of State aid for the purchase of a bicycle. This financing granted by the State can be accompanied by local aid. The Île-de-France, Grand Est, Pays de la Loire, Occitanie and Corsica regions offer purchasing aid for cyclists, as well as a number of municipalities throughout France. What amortize the investment very quickly.
