Austria launches ENIN funding to electrify commercial vehicles

The Austrian Ministry for Climate Action has published the first call from the Emission-free Commercial Vehicles and Infrastructure (ENIN) funding programme. This scheme supports companies in procuring non-fossil fuel commercial vehicles and infrastructure.

In German, ENIN is short for “emissionsfreie Nutzfahrzeuge und Infrastruktur”. When Austria announced the scheme a year ago, the first call worth 45 million euros in funding was scheduled to go out by mid-2022. The ministry could not keep to this schedule but has made more funding available now. Until 2025, companies may call up 365 million euros under the programme, 90 million more than announced last year. Of the 365 million euros, the Austrian Climate Protection Ministry will provide 330 million; the remaining 35 million will come from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility funds.

An initial 85 million euros will be awarded in the calls for proposals now launched. Applications can be submitted until 10 May 2023. The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) has taken over the management of the programme as planned.

The funding is divided into two calls. The first call comprises class N1 vehicles (vans up to 3.5 tonnes) with 35 million euros earmarked. For the vehicles, 80 per cent of the additional costs will be subsidised, and for the infrastructure, 40 per cent of the net acquisition costs. The second tender is for class N2 vehicles (trucks up to 12 tonnes), N3 (heavy lorries over 12 tonnes) and articulated trucks. The budget here is 50 million euros, and the same subsidy quotas apply to the N1 vehicles. Further details can be found on the programme pages linked below.

“The future on our roads is electric. With this funding, we are launching an offensive for sustainable mobility in freight transport,” says Climate Action Minister Leonore Gewessler. “The conversion of commercial vehicle fleets to zero-emission drives is an important step towards more climate protection on our roads.”

“Decarbonising freight transport is an essential step towards environmentally friendly future mobility. As a partner for implementation, we ensure that the funding is used quickly and in a targeted manner and that the mobility transition in Austria picks up speed,” said FFG Managing Director Klaus Pseiner at the launch of the first two calls.

bmk.gv.at (PI in German), ffg.at (funding N1), ffg.at (funding N2)