The European Commission’s recently announced Small Affordable Cars initiative is a welcome opportunity to make the transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) more affordable and strengthen the international competitiveness of the European automotive industry. In this context, the concept of France’s score environnemental, a score assigned to vehicles based on production emissions used in determining eligibility for BEV subsidy programs, is a promising model for other Member States to target incentives to smaller BEVs produced in Europe. In this blog, we describe how the score works and how it could be fine-tuned to better support the adoption of smaller BEVs and models with low production emissions.   

How does the score environnemental work?  

France’s bonus écologique—recently incorporated into the “boost for electric passenger vehicles” program—provides subsidies of up to €4,200 for private households that purchase or lease BEVs priced below €47,000, with the subsidy amount depending on the household’s size and income. From October 2025 onwards, another €1,000 will be provided for models for which the vehicle assembly and battery cell production plants are located in Europe. In parallel, the government’s leasing social program supports low-income households in some regions to lease a BEV for their commute.  

To be eligible for the bonus écologique and leasing social, BEVs must have a minimum score environnemental—a score based on an assigned vehicle production footprint—of 60 points. Vehicles with at least five seats, a range of 160 km, and a 200-liter trunk receive a score between 80 points (if the assigned greenhouse gas emissions of vehicle production and transport are below 12 t CO₂e) and 0 points (if they are above 21 t CO₂e). Smaller vehicles are scored on the same 80-point scale, but based on a range of emissions between 6 t CO2e (80 points) and 17 t CO₂e (0 points; see Figure 1). 

Figure 1. Points assigned to vehicles in the score environnemental based on production and transport emissions

As defined in the score methodology, vehicle production emissions are estimated with a simplified material composition inventory, considering default regional or country average emission factors for each material group. These include the battery, steel (and iron), aluminum, and one category for all “other materials.” Battery production emissions consider the battery capacity and location of production and use regional emissions intensity values based on estimates from a previous ICCT report. For steel, iron, and aluminum, emissions are estimated considering the mass of these metals used in the vehicle, a generic material loss factor of 30%, and an average emissions intensity value for each country where the materials are produced. Added to production emissions are emissions for vehicle assembly and transportation to France, estimated based on the vehicle mass and distance of transport, again considering default emission factors. Automakers can opt to report actual production and transport emissions rather than use default emission intensity values, including if default values result in their vehicles being non-eligible for the subsidy.   

In Tables 1-4 below, we show the top four BEV models by sales in Europe in 2024 in the mini, small, medium, and large vehicle segments. For each model, we present the range of battery capacity of available variants, vehicle mass, and type-approval energy consumption—all of which contribute to the vehicles’ environmental impact. (Executive and luxury cars, like the Volkswagen ID.7 or the Mercedes-Benz EQE-Class, typically are too pricy to be eligible for incentives and are therefore not presented here.) The tables present these factors alongside the vehicle production location and bonus écologique eligibility (as of September 2025). All of the top-selling vehicle models in these segments comply with the maximum price threshold, making the production emissions assigned in the score environnemental the decisive criterion for eligibility.  

How could the score environnemental be targeted to smaller vehicles?  

In part due to the bonus écologique and leasing social programs, the BEV sales share in France has consistently matched or slightly exceeded the EU average. The French government estimates that the 2025 budget for the bonus écologique will support the purchase of 200,000 BEVs. Aligned with the objective of supporting domestically produced BEVs, the score environnemental effectively limits subsidy eligibility to vehicle models produced in Europe. Likewise, only those vehicles with battery cell production in the EU can benefit from the additional subsidy of €1,000.  

As presented in the tables, however, we see that among top-selling models, all those produced in Europe are eligible, irrespective of their segment, vehicle mass, or battery capacity. To more effectively target the subsidy to smaller BEVs and reduce production emissions, the methodology could be refined in two key ways. 

First, to focus the subsidies on BEV models with a lower environmental impact, the scheme could apply a single production emissions threshold to all vehicle sizes and set that threshold low enough to favor smaller, more efficient models over large cars and SUVs. In its current form, large cars and SUVs are below the emissions threshold values of the score environnemental, and vehicles with at least five seats are even allowed higher emissions thresholds than smaller ones.  

 Second, rather than applying default emission intensities based on secondary data sources, which are often too low, the score environnemental could require manufacturers to report actual emissions intensities for steel, aluminum and batteries. This would support manufacturers’ investments in cleaner manufacturing processes and more sustainable material procurement. Manufacturers selling larger vehicles could thereby offset higher material demand by lower material emission intensities, which would also help address automakers’ lack of investments in procuring fossil-free, green steel and the low share of recycled steel in vehicle production.  

As of now, the default material emissions intensity values referred to in the score’s methodology are industry average values, which do not necessarily reflect the emissions intensity of materials used by the individual manufacturers or even the automotive sector as a whole. For instance, ICCT research has shown that steel procured by vehicle manufacturers in Europe has an emissions intensity approximately 60% higher than the regional steel industry average, mainly due to lower-than-average recycled steel use. Although the scheme allows companies to report actual emissions intensities, there is no incentive for them to do this when production is in Europe, as the default values are lower—and thus in their favor.   

The score environnemental offers a promising approach for implementing the Commission’s Small Affordable Cars initiative by targeting BEV incentives to smaller vehicles produced in Europe and models with lower production emissions. Yet realizing its full potential hinges on stricter score thresholds and more rigorous emissions reporting requirements.  

Table 1. Top four BEV models in the mini (A) segment registered in Europe in 2024

Table 2. Top four BEV models in the small (B) segment registered in Europe in 2024

Table 3. Top four BEV models in the medium (C) segment registered in Europe in 2024 

Source for vehicle data: ICCT analysis based on European Environment Agency and ADAC data; source for eligibility: Agence de la Transition Écologique. 

Notes: The country of production refers to the country of final assembly for vehicles sold in Europe in 2024 and the first half of 2025 according to EV Volumes. Price and mass eligibility correspond to the base variant of car models. Price eligibility is based on model variants in France. The most recent series generation version is considered here.