400 million euros extra
Habeck is providing more money for an e-car purchase premium
7/21/2023 1:57 p.m
The Ministry of Economic Affairs increases the sum for the environmental bonus for the purchase of e-cars. This is possible because other departmental spending is lower than expected.
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 said on request. “Tagesspiegel Background” had previously reported.
This year, 2.1 billion euros are available for the environmental bonus. According to the BMWK, 1.72 billion euros had already been paid out by July 3rd. The additional money comes from the current budget of the ministry under Robert Habeck. Funds for the bonus would be reallocated from programs whose expenditure in 2023 was lower than expected. The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) has recently recorded an increase in demand for the environmental bonus.
Overall fewer funding applications than in previous years
“Since March 2023, the number of applications has increased from around 29,000 to over 47,000 vehicles applied for in June,” BAFA said on request. However, the values for the entire period were below the corresponding values for the years 2022 and 2021. In the first half of 2023, applications were made for a total of around 147,000 vehicles, around 48 percent of which were from 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.
In autumn 2022, the federal government decided that from September 1st, only private individuals would be entitled to apply for the environmental bonus. In addition to a reduction in subsidies for electric cars, the subsidies for plug-in hybrid vehicles also expired at the end of 2022.