The funding pot for the purchase of e-cars will be filled up. More than two-thirds of the budget had already been used up by the beginning of July. At the same time, those eligible for funding and the distribution of the sums are changing.
The Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWK) is increasing the budget for the state environmental bonus that can be claimed when purchasing an electric car. “In order to ensure predictability and security for consumers and the economy, the BMWK will increase the funds for 2023 by at least 400 million euros,” the ministry told the “Tagesspiegel”.
This year, 2.1 billion euros were budgeted for the environmental bonus. According to the BMWK, 1.72 billion euros had already been paid out by July 3rd. The additional money now comes from the current budget of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, it said today. The funds for the bonus would be reallocated from programs whose spending in 2023 was lower than expected.
Increased demand for government environmental bonus
The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) has recently recorded an increase in demand for the environmental bonus. “Since March 2023, the number of applications has risen from around 29,000 to over 47,000 vehicles in June,” BAFA said. However, the values for the entire period would be below the corresponding values for the years 2022 and 2021.
In the first half of this year, applications were made for around 147,000 vehicles, around 48 percent of them by private individuals. In the same period of the previous year, this proportion was still 43 percent. The other applications were for commercial leases, for which funding will expire at the end of August.
Commercial funding expires on September 1st
In autumn 2022, the federal government decided that from September 1, 2023, only private individuals would be entitled to apply for the environmental bonus. In addition, subsidies for plug-in hybrid vehicles have been completely eliminated since the beginning of this year. The funding amounts for the purchase of an electric vehicle are and have been reduced.
Since January 1, 2023, the federal share of funding for battery electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles with a net list price of up to 40,000 euros instead of the previous 6,000 euros is only 4,500 euros. With a net list price of between 40,000 euros and up to 65,000 euros, those entitled only get 3,000 euros instead of 5,000 euros. Electric vehicles with a purchase price of more than 65,000 euros will continue to receive no funding.
From January 1, 2024, only e-vehicles with a net list price of the basic model of up to 45,000 euros will be funded. The manufacturer’s share is half in each case.