savings at the pump soon to be compromised

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At the pump, its price is unbeatable: less than 70 cents per liter for bioethanol. But that could change. The 2026 draft budget plans to increase the tax on this fuel. It could thus reach €1.20 per liter.

In a service station near Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), the news is not well received by Maud, a hospital official. “Frankly, it gets on your nerves. If we take ethanol, it’s not for nothing. It’s in relation to the rise in prices, so it’s annoying”, she is indignant. Another 39-year-old motorist, who works in personal transport, uses his car every day. He equipped it with a conversion box to be able to run on bioethanol, but is now thinking of giving it up.

Others, like this retiree, are more fatalistic about this possible price increase: “We’re going to save on other things, we’ll go to restaurants less, or we’ll buy things a little cheaper at the market, that’s all. In any case, the deficit in the country, otherwise, it’s our children who will pay. It’s a bit of common sense, all the same.”

Today, 400,000 motorists use bioethanol, a fuel that emits less CO₂ and fine particles, produced from beets or cereals. In a few years, an entire industry has developed thanks to the rise in gasoline prices.

Cédric Chatenet, mechanic, installs 5 to 6 boxes per week, sold for around 800 euros each. He does not understand the government’s choice and fears for his turnover: “We are pushing the French to move towards ecological and organic solutions and, behind this, we are taxing them on this. It’s a real shame. Especially since ethanol is a French production, local in most cases.”

The measure, if passed, could apply as early as next year.