Aid and TCO in France in 2024

As an electric commercial vehicle, Beeway allows you to benefit from subsidies in France; this article provides an update and shows you the Beeway's profitability.

Government and local aid

Suramortissement for electric LCVs

Companies have the option of depreciating their equipment to account for their wear and tear. For example, an item purchased for €10,000 can be amortized over 5 years; Each year, the company will be able to consider a charge of €2,000 for 5 consecutive years. This sum is a charge that reduces the company's profit and therefore its corporate tax. This tax is 25% in France (excluding SMEs under €42,500).

As far as vehicles are concerned, passenger cars are depreciable up to certain ceilings depending on their CO2 emissions (€9,900 for combustion engines to €30,000 for electric cars).

However, all commercial vehicles are depreciable at 100% of their acquisition value. In order to encourage companies to turn to battery-powered or hydrogen-powered electric engines, the State allows over-depreciation of 120%, i.e. 20% more. As the corporate tax is 25%, the company benefits from a tax reduction of 5% of the price of the vehicle.

By purchasing a Beeway, the company benefits from a 5% tax reduction.

This tax reduction can be spread over 3 to 5 years depending on the depreciation period chosen by the company.

Ecological bonus

France offers a bonus for the purchase of clean vehicles, known as the "Bonus écologique".

For individuals, the bonus scale depends on the household's tax income but for companies established in France, it is € 3,000 provided that its carbon footprint is favorable. Beeway being manufactured in France, it does not suffer from shortcomings related to transport or the use of (very) carbon-based electricity during its production.

€3,000 bonus for every Beeway

Local support for hydrogen

Some local authorities are very proactive in deploying hydrogen on their territory. This takes the form of subsidies for the acquisition or rental of hydrogen vehicles. Although this aid varies from one territory to another, each Beeway Hydrogen can be increased by €5,000.

€5,000 Local Bonus for each Beeway Hydrogen

Other aids (obsolete)

The conversion bonus for replacing an old internal combustion engine with an electric one is no longer available to companies, but remains available to private individuals on a means-tested basis.

To facilitate the transition to the EPZs, the government plans to top up local aid in the event of conversion, but this top-up no longer benefits companies.

Finally, subsidies related to vehicles operating in an H2 ecosystem have disappeared.

Operating expenses

Vehicle maintenance

To simplify the comparison, the vehicles will be compared on what differs from them. We are not going to take into account here the common wear parts such as tires, brakes, shock absorbers, etc. The article focuses on the engine:

  • Diesel
    • €500 oil change and filters every 15,000 km
    • 1500 € for a major service every 50,000km
  • Batteries : Maintenance-free
  • Hydrogen:
    • €1,500 for a major service every 50,000 km

Energy consumption

An electric car for private individuals consumes between 10 and 25 kWh per 100 km depending on its speed, weight and road profile. When empty, a Beeway consumes 20 kWh and at full load on hills it can go up to 40 kWh; consider here the unfavourable case of the charged Beeway consuming 38 kWh.

  • Diesel: 20 € / 100 km
    • based on 10 l per 100 km and 2 €/l diesel cost
  • Battery : 7.60 € / 100km
    • Consumption of 38 kWh per 100 km and an electricity cost of €0.20/kW
  • Hydrogen: 23.75 € / 100 km
    • Consumption of 38 kWh per 100 km
    • 1 kg of hydrogen can produce 16 kWh, so you need 2,375 kg ofH2 per 100 km
    • The kg of H2 sells for €10

Replacement

With the age of the vehicle, it will be necessary to consider the replacement of some major parts of the vehicle:

  • Diesel: engine replacement for €10k every 400,000 km subject to proper maintenance
  • Batteries: Average lifespan of 1,500 cycles.
    The aging of the batteries results in a loss of autonomy of the vehicle. We can go well beyond this lifespan if the autonomy is not critical.
    Excessive use of fast chargers can shorten this lifespan.
  • Hydrogen: The lifespan of a fuel cell is more than 25,000 hours, or millions of km. For this study, one replacement will be considered every 500,000 km.

Balance sheet

The graphs below show the evolution of expenditure over time, according to the distance covered.

Up to 150 km per day, i.e. 36,000 km per year, the Beeway B1 can be enough and becomes a source of savings in 2 years compared to a Diesel LCV. We can also consider the Beeway models with a longer range to allow for greater ranges of action. In this case, the economic threshold is pushed back but so is the battery replacement because each cycle allows you to do more km with a bigger battery.

If you drive 300 km per day or 72,000 km per year, the B1 is no longer appropriate (it would have to be recharged in the middle of the day). The B2 or B3 are sources of savings in 2 to 3 years.

At 400 km per day, i.e. 96,000 km per year, the B3 pays for itself in 6 months.

Conclusion

Beeway allows you to decarbonize your activity but allows a return on investment in 2 years by choosing a model adapted to your needs. There's no point in getting a more expensive oversized model whose return on investment will be delayed.

However, a larger model will occasionally allow you to go further and put less strain on the batteries.

If needs change, Beeway can be adapted. Beeway is durable, ensuring that your investment in it lasts.

In the current state of fuel costs, the balance sheet of a Beeway H2 is similar to that of a diesel vehicle, but the activity is then decarbonized. The Beeway H2 is justified if there is a need to charge the vehicle very quickly for long-distance or energy-intensive use.

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