The Short Cut: Macron campaign promises EV leasing plans, and more

Rosalie Wessel

Staff writer

Mar 25, 2022 • 3 min read

Welcome to this week’s Short Cut! And boy, do we have a round up for you. This week saw Macron devise another cunning plan to get France into EVs. Tesla is also charging – no pun intended – forward with its Berlin Gigafactory. Elon Musk was even seen busting a couple of dance moves during the opening party. And be sure to take a look at whether farmers should be converting their old Land Rovers into electric work horses!

Macron’s master plan promises EV leasing and reduced gas car use

Macron has pledged to make driving EVs more affordable, Bloomberg reports. In a bid to hold on to his presidency, Macron announced a state-sponsored EV leasing program for lower income households, should he be re-elected. Macron, who is campaigning for next month’s elections, didn’t offer details during the press conference where he first spoke of his plan, but if his EV leasing scheme does come to fruition, the likes of Renault, Peugeot and Stellantis stand to benefit — as they're all bringing out EVs in the coming year. Polls show that Macron is the current favorite to win, so it’s looking likely.

Move over Tesla, there’s new chargers in town: Porsche announces plans to build EV charging network

On March 18, Porsche announced its intention to build its own EV charging network, Steven Loveday for InsideEV reports. During its annual meeting, the automaker also unveiled two upcoming EVs, the Macan and 718 Boxster. Other than Tesla, no other brands have their own individual charging network.

Even though Porsche already works with third-party charging companies, the German marque said it will continue those partnerships while setting up its own network, attacking charging infrastructure from both sides. The company will begin building its first charging points next year, focusing on Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Tesla opens Berlin Gigafactory

On March 22nd, Tesla opened its fourth Gigafactory, this one located in Berlin Reuters reports. The factory marks the start of the automaker’s European hub. Tesla figurehead Elon Musk also said that Tesla will be launching its controversial ‘Full Self Driving’ software in Europe soon.

The opening of the factory didn’t go entirely without a hitch. Environmental activists protesting the high use of water in the factory blocked the entrance, the latest in a series of protests over the factory’s high water usage. Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory was initially hindered by local concerns over the effect on wildlife, but production finally began on March 4 after getting the go ahead from local authorities.

BP throws another £1bn at EV charging points

This week BP found another £1bn to throw at its EV charging infrastructure plan in the UK. The funding will go toward its charging network, named Pulse, adding to the 8,000 chargers it currently operates. While the company has declined to reveal the exact details of its charging point strategy, it has previously said it aims to add 16,000 superfast chargers to the UK, which is a part of its wider plan to get to 100,000 chargers globally by 2030.

To find out more about BP’s plans, and also how the UK government is planning to build out EV charging networks, head over to the Financial Times for the full story.

Should we convert old farm vehicles into EVs?

While there’s a lot of talk about buying new EVs, what about converting the cars we have now to electric power? As it turns out, there are a lot of benefits to taking this kind of approach – particularly when it comes to commercial farm vehicles. The main upside is range of a converted EV is well suited to working farm vehicles.

Enter the Electrogenic EV conversion company: it’s created a pilot scheme that will see drop-in kits made for hard working Land Rovers. While the Electrogenic kit only gives the converted EV 120 miles of range, for working farm vehicles such as a 1980s Land Rover not much more will be needed — especially when it’s never going far from a charger.

Writing for Forbes, James Morris explores how the conversion process will save costs in the long run and help farmers clean up their carbon footprint.