The boom in sales of e-cars should continue - and from the point of view of politics must continue in order to be able to achieve climate targets.
There is now an important signal about a central funding instrument.
Berlin - Anyone who wants to buy a new electric car now has clarity: The significantly higher state premium will soon be extended until the end of 2025 - so far it is limited to the end of 2021.
The Federal Ministry of Economics announced that the extension should take place shortly, this is planned for July or August at the latest.
This provided relief in the auto trade.
"It was high time to clear up the uncertainty both in the automotive trade and among consumers," said the Vice President of the Central Association of the German Motor Vehicle Industry, Thomas Peckruhn.
Because anyone who orders an e-vehicle today has to expect delivery times that extend into 2022.
The extension of the so-called innovation bonus had actually already been decided at a “car summit” at the end of November.
The implementation took time.
The "technical process" should now be completed quickly, said a ministry spokesman.
In order to get more e-cars on the road, the existing purchase premium (environmental bonus) was increased a year ago via an "innovation premium" - the federal government had doubled its funding for the purchase of an electric vehicle. Since then, new registrations have increased significantly. Manufacturers also participate in the environmental bonus. E-cars play a key role in the federal government's strategy to achieve climate goals in transport.
The doubling of the federal share in the purchase bonus has brought a significant boost to electromobility, said Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier (CDU). According to the ministry, a grant of up to 9,000 euros can be applied for for electric vehicles that cost less than 40,000 euros net list price. For hybrid cars it is 6750 euros. For electric vehicles with a net list price of 40,000 euros, the subsidy is up to 7500 euros for purely electric vehicles and up to 5625 euros for hybrid cars. The applications are processed by the Federal Office for Economics and Export Control (Bafa).
In the first half of 2021, more premiums were used than in the whole of last year, a total of 1.25 billion euros, according to Altmaier.
“There will be record funding for electric cars this year.
That is why we decided in the coalition to continue the funding until the end of 2025 so that the market ramp-up of electromobility continues to gain momentum.
In the federal government's draft budget for 2022, 2.1 billion euros are budgeted for the innovation bonus.
Bafa President Torsten Safarik said 273,000 vehicles had been requested in the first half of 2021, already more than in the entire previous year.
The President of the Association of the Automotive Industry, Hildegard Müller, called the bonus an important boost for the expansion of electromobility and thus for achieving the climate targets. ADAC traffic president Gerhard Hillebrand said: "It is good that with the extension of the innovation bonus there is now planning security for consumers and short-term uncertainties about the continuation and the amount of the subsidy have been eliminated."
The Central Association of the German Motor Vehicle Industry said that the association had repeatedly pointed out the urgency of the timely extension to both Bafa and the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the spring. So far there has been no legal certainty as to whether and, if so, to what extent the innovation premium would continue to be paid. The Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers demanded that end-to-end financing of the environmental bonus must be ensured until the end of 2025.
The announcement of the bonus comes at a time of profound change in the automotive industry. More and more manufacturers are announcing that they want to say goodbye to the internal combustion engine in central markets in the medium term. Opel boss Michael Lohscheller said on Thursday that Opel wanted to be fully electric in Europe by 2028. German car brands dominate e-vehicles in their home market. In the first half of the year, a good 312,000 pure electric cars and plug-in hybrids were newly registered in Germany. That was every fourth to fifth car. dpa
