It was one of Emmanuel Macron’s campaign promises: the electric car at 100 euros per month. A year and a half after his election, the contours of this offer are emerging, but Fiat has apparently taken the lead by offering its adorable 500 electric at 99 euros per month. So, good or bad deal? We decipher the offer together.
The electric car at 100 euros per month promised by Emmanuel Macron during his campaign for the presidential election of 2022 is still waiting. According to the government, we should know more at the start of the next school year, to implementation in early 2024.
According to our information, the government is in negotiations with Renault to achieve such monthly payments. The objective of the government would be to democratize the electric car, with a French vehicle obviously and manufactured in France. Some mention the future electric R5 as the model concerned, but with a price already announced from 25,000 euros, achieving monthly payments of 100 euros per month without large tax aid seems mission impossible.
The only one to fit into the boxes would be the Renault Zoé, which is manufactured in Flins, in the Yvelines, and which will be at the end of its life in 2024. Its particular, worn-out and well-amortized technology will undoubtedly allow Renault, via government aid of course , to offer its electric city car at 100 euros per month, and thus to fulfill one of the campaign promises of the President of the Republic.
Still, if the “electric car of the government” is long overdue, on the side of Stellantis, and more particularly Fiat, we have taken the lead. Indeed, the transalpine brand offers its 500 electric from 99 euros per month through an offer “social and accessible electricity for all”. Let’s take a closer look at what this offer contains, which seems to be interesting, even more interesting than that of the new Dacia Spring Extreme, which is more Spartan, but offered from 130 euros per month.
The electric Fiat 500 offered at 99 euros per month
As with most “starting at” financing offers, this is the basic model. At Fiat, it is the trim level which is simply called “500” which takes on this role. Below is the list of the main standard equipment of the model concerned:
- 6 speakers
- Rear fog light
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- Rear head restraints
- Rain sensors
- Automatic air conditioning
- One-pedal driving
- Center console with storage compartment
- Mode 3 charging cable
- DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast)
- Keyless start
- Fatigue detector
- E-Call (emergency call)
- LED rear lights
- LED Daytime Running Lights (DRL)
- Electric handbrake
- Autonomous emergency braking
- Sign recognition
- Speed regulator
- Body colored exterior mirrors
- Uconnect system 10.25″ screen
- Electric drive mode selector
- 7” color TFT display
- Uconnect Services
- Steering wheel with radio controls
Overall, it’s quite complete, even if it lacks some elements that are quite essential in our eyes today, such as parking radars or blind spot detection. These options are available via packs, and choosing one of these packs will inevitably take your car out of the offer at 99 euros per month. The base color is quite neutral since it is “Ice White”, the free paint. The others are charged 850 euros.
The car has a 23.8 kWh battery associated with an electric motor of 95 hp. The electric Fiat 500 claims a range of 190 km according to the WLTP cycle, and even up to 257 km in purely urban use. It’s not a panacea, far from it, but for everyday journeys, it’s enough.
What are the conditions to be eligible for the Fiat 500 electric LLD offer?
And this is where it gets complicated. Hoping that the government does not follow the example of Fiat for its electric car at 100 euros per month, so many are the conditions.
This is a long-term rental offer on 37 months and 10,000 kilometers per year, i.e. 30,000 km in total. Fiat indicates that the offer at 99 euros per month is subject to a first rent of 9,500 euroswhich returns to zero once the ecological bonus of 7,000 euros and the conversion bonus of 2,500 euros have been deducted.
Be careful, because Fiat is playing on a small tax detail in this year 2023. The maximum ecological bonus has fallen to 5,000 euros at the start of 2023, but it can still be 7,000 euros under certain tax conditions. Indeed, the bonus can reach 7,000 euros (within the limit of 27% of the purchase price) for households with a taxable income per unit of less than 14,089 euros. In other words, it did not concern the majority of buyers.
Another condition to be met is that of the conversion bonus. To qualify for this bonus, you have to scrap an old diesel or petrol model. The old scrapped vehicle must be a car or a van with a gross vehicle weight not exceeding 3,500 kg. The date of first registration must be before 2011 for diesels and before 2006 for petrols.
The vehicle must have belonged to the beneficiary for at least one year, while the reference tax income per unit indicated on the tax notice of your income for the previous year must be less than or equal to €13,489.
How much will the LLD of the electric Fiat 500 cost you?
Over three years of long-term rental, your electric Fiat 500 will cost you €3,564. Fiat displays its car from €30,400 on its site, an ecological bonus of 7,000 euros and a conversion bonus of 2,500 euros not deducted. Always considering that you are entering the right tax regime. Thus, once all the aid has been deducted, we arrive at a price of €20,900.
Starting from this price, you will pay over the two years of the rental 17% of the price of your car. This is far less than the discount over three years for this type of car, even if, in electric where demand continues to increase, this implies a certain price stability. As the offer is not an LOA, there is no option to buy back the vehicle. It will therefore be necessary to return the car at the end of the financing.
Beware of repair costs, these can be high at the time of return. We advise you to do it before at a bodybuilder, it will cost you less than at your dealer in general. If you take a vehicle back to your dealer after your LLD, he will also be a little less careful about the costs of repairs.
Things to remember
Pay 17% the price of a car over three years of use, yes this offer is undeniably a good deal. Fiat has bet on a fairly high residual value, while playing, and this is a bit petty in our view, on all the state aid combined.
As we have seen above, these aids are very difficult to combine, and a household with such a low tax income is not necessarily able to buy or rent an electric car. Above all, we recommend keeping the scrapping bonus for a purchase (cash, on credit or LOA) and especially not for an LLD. Because this bonus will be “lost” after returning the car.
On the other hand, with 99 euros per month, Fiat displays an affordable price that can probably suit modest householdsit is in any case much more coherent than the Jeep Avenger offered at 199 euros per month, with 4,000 of contribution, and with the same conditions.
The LLD is interesting only if you want to change your car regularly, without bothering with resale. Let us also recall that in the LLD, maintenance and warranty are included throughout the duration of the financing. With a classic credit, the guarantee is the basic one, namely two years. With this type of financing, you know in advance the total cost of ownership of your car. On the other hand, in cash or on credit, you cannot know this price, since it will depend on the resale value.
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