Germany extends EV premiums til end of 2020

The German Federal Ministry of Economics has officially extended the purchase premiums for electric cars and plug-in hybrids until the end of 2020. The environmental bonus will therefore continue in its current form, meaning with identical subsidy rates, until 31 December 2020.

The funding guideline by the Ministry of Economic Affairs required for this will be published on the 5th of June 2019, and will then apply immediately after expiry of the previous funding guideline from 1 July 2019. All that is new is a funding module for the installation of an acoustic warning system for blind and visually impaired people. The subsidy amounts to a lump sum of 100 euros.

The premium granted for the purchase of a new electric car can still be applied for from the government. The following subsidy rates also apply beyond the end of June: Battery electric cars and fuel cell cars will each receive a subsidy of 2,000 euros from the state and the manufacturer. Plug-in hybrids will each receive a subsidy of 1,500 euros. However, only if it is a new vehicle with a net list price for the basic model of up to 60,000 euros.

Funding will be provided until the above-mentioned deadline or until the planned federal funding of 600 million euros has been exhausted. A look at the BAFA statistics to date shows that it is quite unlikely that the funding will be exhausted: by the end of April, the Office had received only 113,993 applications for environmental bonuses, 74,906 of which were for purely battery electric vehicles, 39,027 for plug-in hybrids and 60 for fuel cell vehicles. Originally, the purchasing bonus was intended to subsidise around 300,000 passenger cars by the end of June. So the “old” pot is still good and half full.

“We are extending the purchase premium for electric cars until the end of 2020, because we need continuity in support. The buyer’s premium has proven its worth in practice. The number of applications is rising steadily – slower than we had hoped for, but it is all the more important to ensure continuity in funding,” commented Economics Minister Peter Altmaier on the step previously announced. While the previous subsidy level will remain in place until the end of 2020, the federal government’s share of the premium will then be doubled from 2,000 to 4,000 euros – but only for electric cars up to a list price of 30,000 euros. For electric cars up to a list price of 60,000 euros, the federal share is to rise to 2,500 euros. It is still unclear whether the car industry will also increase its share. In the case of light commercial vehicles and taxis with electric drives, state support will be even higher: Electric taxis could even be subsidized with 8,000 euros.

The increase in the environmental bonus is known to be part of Andreas Scheuer’s new package of measures to reduce CO2 emissions. Two days ago, in front of the Climate Cabinet, the Minister of Transport showed how he intends to save up to 55 million tons of CO2 in the transport sector.

bmwi.de (In German)