Good news for future customers of BMW electric cars: they can now benefit from a serious financial advantage on the purchase of certain models of the brand in France. To do this, the brand used a trick that Tesla and Renault already use…
Do you no longer understand anything about the ecological bonus in France? Don’t worry, even we sometimes have trouble keeping up! Between the tightening of conditions at the start of the year, a decree which took a long time to arrive to formalize the 4,000 euros and no longer the 5,000 euros for 2023, or even the taking into account of options in obtaining the bonus, It is to no longer include anything in it. We have also compiled for you in our dedicated file the new developments around this 2024 vintage bonus.
For several months, and in particular thanks to Tesla who discovered the trick, the bonus takes into account the price of the car according to its level of finish, but without the options. That is to say that a model billed for 46,990 euros, with 10,000 euros more options for example, can still be entitled to the bonus of 4,000 euros.
BMW, Renault, Tesla, same fight!
Tesla and Renault understood how it worked and took advantage of this “loophole” to allow them to bypass the ceiling of 47,000 euros. The trick is as simple as pie, since it is enough to pass off the finishes as options, so as not to count them in the final price of the car. This is why all Renault Scénics are eligible for the ecological bonus.
We have been contacted by BMW France on this subject who, as with Mini, have confirmed that the different trim levels are considered options.
BMW is therefore doing like Tesla and Renault, and believes that the finishes are not part of the vehicle's intrinsic equipment, but that they are options. And in this case, the government is clear: the cost of non-intrinsic equipment is not taken into account when calculating the ecological bonus.
Which models are affected at BMW?
So at BMW, there are few electric cars priced below 47,000 euros, but there are still two, namely the BMW iX1 and iX2 in their 204 hp eDrive20 versions. These start at 46,900 euros, while the eDrive30 versions require 59,150 euros, which immediately excludes them from the bonus scale.
Thanks to their 64.8 kWh batteries, they can travel 474 km for the iX1 and 478 km for the iX2 according to the WLTP standard, while being able to recharge from 10 to 80% in 29 minutes.
In fact, you can very well buy a BMW iX2 eDrive20 equipped with the M Sport finish and all the options (for a cost of more than 65,000 euros) and benefit from the ecological bonus, from the moment the amount of the car excluding options and finishes does not exceed 47,000 euros, she remains eligible for the bonus.