The environmental bonus as a subsidy when purchasing an electric car is a thing of the past. But do electric vehicles still have a chance without a purchase premium? To ensure that electric cars don’t run out of juice, new funding should be provided – according to the Federal Environment Agency, this would ideally come from the backs of combustion engine drivers.
After environmental bonus: Federal Office wants to ask combustion engine drivers to pay
The end of the environmental bonus was foreseeable – and then came much faster and more suddenly than many expected. Since the end of December 17, 2023 no new applications for e-car funding more to be submitted. The end of funding could mean a bitter blow to customers’ interest in electric cars.
To ensure that this doesn’t happen, the Federal Environment Agency is taking action new subsidies for electric car buyers before. But as a result of the budget compromise, there is no money for this. It could come from drivers who use petrol or diesel engines: “The Federal Environment Agency advocates a bonus-malus system that is based on the polluter pays principle: The higher the CO₂ emissions of a car, the greater the tax burden should be,” explains Dirk Messner, President of the Federal Authority (Source: Editorial Network Germany).
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The costs for cheaper electric cars should therefore be borne by everyone who doesn’t drive one. The more petrol and diesel engines consume, the higher it could be Vehicle tax increases – and with it also There is an incentive to drive a combustion engine that is as environmentally friendly as possible or an electric car.
This is how manufacturers are reacting to the end of e-car funding:
New e-car funding: It’s still a long way off
It is unclear how much more expensive combustion engines could become in terms of vehicle tax. The amount is already based, among other things, on CO₂ emissions, making it more expensive for cars with high emissions. With a change like the one Messner suggests, the… However, the surcharge could be even greater.
Without an environmental bonus, electric cars have poor prospects when compared to costs:
“With the income you could have one Counter-finance a bonus for the purchase of small and medium-sized electric cars,” that’s the idea. There is no talk of promoting larger electric vehicles. “The fact is that the current support for electric cars was in need of reform: we should stronger look at people with low incomes and don’t distribute funding with a watering can,” Messner continues.