‘A major victory for the country’s energy sovereignty’: Maud Bregeon hails electric-car sales

France’s electric-car market reached 38% of new-vehicle sales in August, compared with 19% a year earlier. Government spokeswoman and Energy Minister Maud Bregeon described the rise as a “major victory for the country’s energy sovereignty.”

Bregeon said France had won a cultural battle over electrification, which she presented as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil. She said the rapid change showed that people had understood the importance of using less energy.

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38% of new cars sold in August were electric, compared with 19% the year before. That shows how quickly this change has happened.

Nearly 1.1 million new cars were sold in France during the first eight months of the year, 3% more than during the same period in 2025. Electric vehicles accounted for 38% of those sales, helped by incentives, even as the broader new-car market remained under pressure.

The shift came alongside a sharp rise in fuel prices. Geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly a quarter of global oil production passes, pushed petrol and diesel prices above an average of two euros per litre in France that week.

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It took years, and it is a major victory for the country’s energy sovereignty.

Data analysis by Roole found that the monthly fuel budget for petrol-car owners had become almost three times higher than energy spending for electric-car owners. Petrol costs rose by 25 euros in the first half of the year, from 112 euros to 137 euros a month.

Bregeon said she could not predict whether prices would rise or fall over the next six, 12 or 18 months. She nevertheless called for the electrification effort to continue, arguing that it offered a response to dependence on prices set by other countries.

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If we want to break free from dependence on prices set by others, electrification is one answer.