Premium electric and hybrid: taxation, range and image

Going electric without sacrificing prestige

For years, electrifying an executive fleet was framed as a trade-off: gain in fiscal and environmental virtue, but concede something on pleasure, range or status. That equation belongs to the past. Today's most accomplished plug-in hybrid saloons and grand sports cars combine greater power than their combustion-engined forebears, an unprecedented refinement of ride in electric mode, and a markedly more favourable tax regime for both the company and the executive.

One legitimate reservation remains, often voiced quietly: what will this vehicle be worth in four years' time, once battery technology has advanced further still? This is precisely where long-term rental — location longue durée (LLD) — changes the nature of the debate. Under LLD, the company does not own the asset: it rents its use. The residual value risk — the great question mark hanging over electric vehicles — is borne by the lessor, not the client. The transition then becomes a serene choice, not a gamble.

A taxation now indexed on carbon

The structuring principle of French motor taxation is simple: the more a vehicle emits CO2, the less of its cost the company may deduct. Deductibility is capped in emissions brackets, and the gap between the top and bottom of the scale is considerable.

For 2026, the deduction ceilings are staggered as follows: €30,000 for a vehicle under 20 g of CO2/km — that is, all fully electric models; €20,300 between 20 and 49 g; €18,300 from 50 to 160 g; and just €9,900 above 160 g, according to the 2026 depreciation scale indexed on CO2.

Under LLD, this mechanism translates into a non-deductible fraction of the rental payment: the portion of the rent corresponding to the vehicle's price above the applicable ceiling is added back into taxable income. In concrete terms, a large premium combustion saloon, well above 160 g, sees its deductibility capped at €9,900 — a significant share of the rent then remains a tax burden for the company. A high-end plug-in hybrid, whose approved WLTP emissions are substantially lower, falls under a higher ceiling; a fully electric model benefits from the maximum ceiling of €30,000. At equivalent prestige, electrification mechanically shifts the tax balance in the company's favour.

Benefit-in-kind, a lever for employer branding

When a vehicle is made available to an executive or manager for private use, it constitutes a benefit-in-kind (avantage en nature, AEN), subject to social contributions and income tax. Here again, electric vehicles enjoy preferential treatment that directly affects net remuneration.

Since 2025, a fully electric vehicle eligible for the éco-score has qualified for a 70% reduction on the amount of the AEN, capped at €4,641.60 per year and per employee in 2026. Better still: electricity costs covered by the employer for charging are excluded from the benefit calculation, unlike fuel for a combustion vehicle, as confirmed by the 2026 rules on the benefit-in-kind for electric vehicles.

The result is tangible: at comparable standing, an electric company car costs its beneficiary noticeably less than an equivalent combustion model. For a management team keen to attract and retain talent, the argument extends well beyond the payslip line. Offering an exceptional vehicle with a light social charge turns the fleet into an instrument of employer branding. It should be noted, however, that this enhanced reduction targets fully electric models: a plug-in hybrid does not benefit from this specific regime, but retains other advantages, starting with a low emissions base and the full range of CO2-linked tax benefits.

Annual taxes and penalties: the gap widens

The former company car tax (taxe sur les véhicules de sociétés, TVS) has given way to two cumulative annual taxes: one on CO2 emissions, the other on atmospheric pollutants. For a vehicle running exclusively on electricity, both are reduced to zero: the exemption is total, automatic and without time limit, and the tightening once envisaged for 2028 has been abandoned, as confirmed by the public service portal on taxes on the allocation of passenger vehicles.

Plug-in hybrids, by contrast, are no longer exempt: they are now taxed according to their actual WLTP emissions. The advantage remains — their approved emissions stay low compared with equivalent combustion models — but it is no longer absolute. As for the ecological penalty (malus écologique) applied at registration, it weighs heavily on the most emitting vehicles; under LLD, it is borne by the lessor and smoothed into the rent, which protects the company's cash flow from an upfront shock. Here again, the logic is consistent: the more virtuous the powertrain, the lighter the tax burden.

TCO, beyond the rental line

Reasoning solely on the amount of the rent would be an analytical error. The right indicator is the total cost of ownership (TCO), which aggregates all cost items over the term of the contract.

• Energy: the cost per kilometre of an electric vehicle remains well below that of premium fuel, especially with controlled charging.
• Maintenance: fewer moving parts, no oil changes, regenerative braking that spares the brake pads — maintenance on an electric vehicle is structurally lighter.
• Taxation: raised deductibility, lowered benefit-in-kind, annual taxes wiped out for electric vehicles.
• Services: under long-term rental, maintenance, insurance and assistance are bundled into the contract, turning unpredictable expenses into a controlled budget.

Added together, these items rebalance the apparent gap in rent compared with a combustion model, and often reverse it. Long-term rental has precisely the virtue of making this total cost legible and predictable, month after month, where ownership exposes the company to a string of uncertainties.

Technological risk, borne by the lessor

This is arguably the most decisive argument, and the most misunderstood. The resale value of an electric vehicle remains volatile: battery technology is advancing fast, the range of models is widening, and no one can predict with certainty what a given model will be worth in four years' time. Market observers cite a depreciation of around 45 to 55% at three years for a premium electric vehicle, against 35 to 45% for an equivalent combustion model, even if the gap tends to narrow as battery warranties lengthen.

Under outright purchase, this risk falls entirely on the company's balance sheet. Under long-term rental, it changes sides. As a dedicated analysis points out, the residual value of electric vehicles makes LLD the best protection against depreciation risk: the rent is fixed in advance, and the future value of the asset is no longer the client's concern.

Under long-term rental, it is the lessor who assumes the uncertainty over residual value and technological evolution. The company, for its part, buys use at a known cost.

For an exceptional fleet, this shift is liberating. It allows the most advanced powertrains to be chosen today without fear of their commercial obsolescence tomorrow. This is exactly the promise carried by EVO LUXURY: a long-term rental where the lessor assumes the residual value risk, and where the client focuses on what matters — the use of an exceptional vehicle.

Image, CSR and fleet coherence

Beyond the figures, an electrified fleet carries a message. Fleet greening obligations, extra-financial reporting and the growing sensitivity of both clients and employees make powertrain choice a visible marker of CSR strategy. An executive travelling at the wheel of an electrified saloon or grand sports car aligns words with actions: environmental performance is no longer opposed to standing, it extends it.

This coherence reads on three levels: towards clients and partners, for whom the fleet reflects the company's modernity; towards talent, sensitive to an employer credible in its commitments; and towards the carbon footprint, where every vehicle counts. Premium electrification is not a renunciation of prestige: it becomes a contemporary expression of it.

EVO LUXURY: a mastered transition

EVO LUXURY builds this conviction into its offering: long-term rental and rental agreements with a purchase option, with included services and a fleet that gives full place to exceptional electrified powertrains. The Mercedes S-Class AMG 63e, a plug-in hybrid at the summit of the executive saloon, and the Ferrari SF90, embody this alliance of power and everyday sobriety.

Whether your need points towards a prestige saloon for executive representation or a premium SUV for everyday versatility, the same logic applies: you choose the use, we carry the risk. The transition to electric and plug-in hybrid no longer demands compromise — neither on taxation, nor on image, nor on driving pleasure. It simply requires the right contractual framework. That framework is long-term rental, and it is EVO LUXURY.