Status: 18.12.2023, 19:06 PM
By: Romina Kunze, Simon Mones
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More expensive refuelling, less subsidies: The decision of the traffic light coalition on the 2024 federal budget is hitting motorists hard. Fuel prices will probably be four times more expensive than expected.
Kassel – After four weeks of wrangling, the traffic light coalition of SPD, FDP and Greens has finally found a compromise for the 2024 budget. However, this is likely to be a compromise only for the governing parties involved. Consumers, on the other hand, will pay dearly for the decision; especially for motorists.
Increase in CO2 premium: Fuel will become even more expensive
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) presented the revised budget plans on Wednesday (13 December), saying: "We have to make do with significantly less money to achieve these goals". Translated, this means above all additional costs for the consumer. At the petrol station, too, prices are climbing in keeping with their status – and for a long time.
It was already known that fuel prices would rise from 30 to 40 euros due to an increase in the CO₂ tax. But with the latest traffic light decision, the levy will increase even more significantly. From 1 January, 45 euros per tonne of CO₂ will be due, and then 2025 euros in 55.
From January, the effects of the traffic light decision on the 2024 federal budget will also be felt at the petrol station. © Ramon van Flymen/Imago
According to calculations by the General German Automobile Club (ADAC), fuel prices for gasoline will climb to around 4.3 cents in the coming year instead of the originally planned 1.4 cents, making diesel 4.7 cents instead of 1.6 cents. In 2025, fuel prices at German petrol stations will rise by a further 7.5 cents (petrol) and eight cents (diesel), experts calculate. An increase for 2026 has also already been decided. The extent to which fuel taxes are reflected at the petrol station is shown by a comparison with the base year 2020, as the ADAC informs:
| Year | Price CO₂/tonne | Price increase/litre of petrol | Price increase/litre of diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 Euro | approx. 7 cents | approx. 8 cents |
| 2022 | 30 Euro | approx. 8.4 cents | approx. 9.5 cents |
| 2023 | 30 Euro | approx. 8.4 cents | approx. 9.5 cents |
| 2024 | 45 Euro | approx. 12.7 cents | approx. 14.2 cents |
| 2025 | 55 Euro | approx. 15.7 cents | approx. 17.3 cents |
| 2026 | 55 to 65 Euro | approx. 16.9 cents | approx. 18.9 cents |
This means that fuel prices have already become 2023 and 8 cents more expensive within three years in 9, and motorists can expect a further price jump in 2024. As of 2022, the CO₂ price remained unchanged and so did fuel costs, as the government suspended the planned increase for a year due to the energy crisis. The additional revenue is to flow into the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF).
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Abolition of the environmental bonus for electric cars: manufacturers express criticism
There is also bad news for those who are planning to buy an electric car. Despite the additional revenue from the CO2 tax, the environmental bonus will be abolished earlier than planned. Originally, the subsidy for electric cars was not supposed to end until the end of 2024, with the subsidy rate then only being 4,500 euros.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (The Greens) did not give an exact date for the end of the environmental bonus. According to Die Welt, however, the funding could end very abruptly. It remains unclear how much money will be available for the environmental premium in 2024. In any case, applications that have already been submitted should still be processed.
The German government's decision was met with fierce criticism from the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). VDA President Hildegard Müller said in a statement: "This funding was rightly always limited in time; phasing out now leads to uncertainty, dampens the ramp-up of e-mobility and thus jeopardizes the goal of the coalition agreement to bring around 2030 million electric cars onto the market by 15." However, electric cars are becoming increasingly affordable to buy. In the next few years, more and more models for less than 25,000 euros are to be launched on the market.
The editors wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at their own discretion. All information has been carefully verified. Learn more about our AI principles here.