Referral + 2026 eco bonus: how much you can really save

The referral (2,000 km or €250) and the bonus écologique are two separate schemes that stack. Here's the 2026 scale, who's eligible, and how they add up — dated July 13, 2026.

The 2026 scale

Eligibility conditions

• New EV priced < €47 000.
• Weight < 2 400 kg.
• ADEME environmental eco-score ≥ 60/80 (favours European production).

Three filters, in this order — and the second one is the surprise

The costliest mistake with the bonus écologique isn't miscalculating the amount: it's checking the criteria in the wrong order. Three independent filters apply, and failing any one of them forfeits the whole thing.

1. The eco-score. Check this first, because it's the only one you can't work around. It rates the production and transport footprint — not the price, not the performance. A car can be cheap, light and otherwise perfectly within the rules and still be excluded because it's assembled too far away. No option, trim or negotiation changes that result.
2. The €47 000 price cap. The only filter you genuinely control, at the configurator. Paint, wheels and extra seats add up: a trim that clears the cap in base form can cross it once equipped. Measure the total against the cap, never the headline price.
3. Your reference tax income. This decides the amount, not eligibility, in bands. It's the last thing to look at, because knowing your band is useless if the car fails the first two filters.

When the money actually arrives

A cash-flow detail few pages spell out: the bonus écologique isn't a refund you claim afterwards. It's deducted at order time, with the seller advancing the amount on your behalf. So you don't front the cash, and there's no paperwork to file months later.

The referral benefit runs on a different clock: attached at order, but credited at delivery. Both appear in the summary before payment, but only the bonus translates immediately into a smaller amount to pay. If you go looking for the referral inside the total, you won't find it — it isn't a discount.

Putting the two schemes to scale

Worth saying plainly, even on a site about referrals: these two numbers are not in the same league.

That's one to two orders of magnitude apart. The practical conclusion isn't “the referral is pointless” — it's free, it takes ten seconds and it stacks. It's that the order of priorities matters: settle the bonus question (trim, eco-score, income band) before you think about the code, never the other way round. An option that pushes you over the cap wipes out the referral's value dozens of times over.

What disappeared in 2026, and will still be offered to you

Two widely cited schemes no longer exist. The prime à la conversion was abolished on 1er janvier 2026, and Tesla's €3 100 maker's discount on the Model 3 ended the same day. If a page adds either one into a “total savings” figure, it hasn't been rechecked since the start of the year — and the total it shows is wrong by thousands of euros.

Model Y eligible, Model 3 not — why

The Model Y RWD and Long Range RWD is built in Berlin: it passes the eco-score and stays under €47 000, so it's eligible (up to €5 700). The Model 3 sold in France is built in Shanghai: it fails the eco-score and is not eligible. Model Y Performance / AWD / 7-seat exceed the price cap.

How the referral adds on top

Tesla deducts the eco bonus at order time; the referral benefit (2,000 km or €250) is independent and adds on once you've clicked the link before configuring. Both appear in the summary.