Paris (France) (AFP) – 100% electric vehicles represent a growing share of the new automobile market, even if they remain not very widespread. What are their main differences with other types of less polluting vehicles, such as hydrogen cars or plug-in hybrids?
Published on: 01/09/2026 - 09:23
- 100% electric -
The battery electric vehicle contains an electric motor powered by a rechargeable battery from an external power source.
Silent, the engine emits neither greenhouse gases nor fine particles and in France, according to the public authorities, the environmental impact of an electric car, over its entire life cycle, is approximately five times lower than that of a thermal car.
The average autonomy today reaches around 400 km in real conditions of use (with the influence of driving, outside temperature and use of equipment for example).
France, which is targeting 400,000 charging points open to the public by 2030, crossed the milestone of 200,000 points installed in July (with nearly 15,000 new points since the start of the year).
More expensive to purchase than thermal cars (42,700 euros on average in 2026 according to the NGO Transport and Environment, T&E), electric cars are less expensive to use thanks to reduced maintenance and a lower cost of electricity than fuels (less than three euros per 100 kilometers for recharging at home or at the office, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition).
Charging time varies depending on the installation: from 20 to 40 minutes at a fast terminal, it can reach five to ten hours at home depending on the installation (reinforced socket or charging station).
Hydrogen electric
A hydrogen electric vehicle runs on a fuel cell that converts hydrogen into electricity to power the electric motor.
Hydrogen gas under pressure is stored in a tank. In addition to electricity, its encounter with the oxygen of the ambient air in the battery only produces water vapor.
The range is comparable to that of conventional fossil fuel vehicles and recharging is fast, like a full tank of gasoline.
But the network is still limited, with around fifty stations and a “white zone” in the South-West of France.
Furthermore, the production of hydrogen can itself be polluting when it is produced from fossil fuels (gas or coal) rather than using renewable energies.
The plug-in hybrid
A plug-in hybrid vehicle combines a thermal engine (petrol or diesel), an electric motor and a small battery.
A plug-in hybrid car can drive in 100% electric mode (at low speed, between 40 and 100 kilometers), in thermal mode (on long journeys), or in hybrid mode (both combined).
In electric mode, it allows you to drive in town without CO2 emissions and its autonomy is sufficient for many daily journeys.
The heat engine takes over automatically when the battery is empty.
In most cases the battery can recharge automatically while driving when braking or during thermal mode phases. Charging from the mains (on a conventional socket or certain types of terminals) generally lasts a few hours.
Plug-in hybrids are more virtuous than thermal models if they are recharged daily. But they continue to emit CO2 when they use their heat engine. Without regular recharging, even journeys likely to be made using the electric motor become sources of greenhouse gas emissions since the weight of the empty, unused battery is responsible for excess fuel consumption.
Conversely, in non-rechargeable hybrids (also called simple hybrids or self-charging hybrids), the electric motor recharges during braking and deceleration phases and it is only there to assist and optimize the thermal engine. The main advantage is to reduce fuel consumption.
© 2026 AFP
The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.
