[maigret]

Why does the reason matter? The fact is that people want to present combustion engines as more robust while they‘re clearly not. France can’t produce oil on its own territory much.

[rmbyrro]

It matters for consumer behavior, I think.

In my opinion, the current energy crisis in France is more damning for the vehicle electrification plans than what you mentioned for gas cars.

One thing is the government telling you to buy EVs and then totally failing to deliver the "E" of the equation.

Another thing is an event caused by third-parties.