Germany
Germany offers some of the most generous EV incentives in Europe as the country is serious about reaching its objectives of having 10 million EVs and 1 million charging stations by 2030. This summer’s €130 billion post-COVID-19 stimulus package includes significant funding to boost EV incentives even more, meaning that a Seat Mii Electric can now be purchased for under €11,000. Here’s all you need to know:
EV Incentives
Subsidies
Germany’s ‘Umweltbonus’ (environmental bonus) program encourages the purchase of EVs and the decommissioning of diesel and gasoline vehicles, with incentives like:
- Purchase grants:
- For vehicles priced up to €40,000:
- Fully-electric: €9,000
- Plug-in hybrid: €6,750
- For vehicles priced up to €65,000:
- Fully-electric: €7,500
- Plug-in hybrid: €5,625
- An additional bonus of €100 is available if the purchased EV is equipped with an Acoustic Vehicle Alert System (AVAS)
- Until 2030, a one-off subsidy of up to 50% of the purchase costs of purely electric vehicles used for commercial deliveries.
Tax Benefits
Kfz-Steuer (motor vehicle tax):
- Fully-electric vehicles registered between 2011 and 2030 have a 10-year exemption from this tax. This means that EV owners in Germany can save, on average, around €194 in ownership tax per car and year, but based on the type of car, this figure can even be much higher. You can use this calculator to estimate how much car tax you’d pay if you opt for an ICE car.
- Plug-in hybrid EVs pay the tax, but it’s lower for them than diesel/gasoline vehicles, in proportion with their lower CO2 emissions.
Company car tax:
- private usage of a fully-electric company car with a list price below €60,000, is taxed at only 0.25% of the list price per month. In comparison, Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars are taxed at 1%.
- private usage of a hybrid company car or a fully-electric company car with a list price above €60,000, is taxed at only 0.5% of the list price per month. In comparison, ICE cars are taxed at 1%.
VAT:
- Will temporarily fall from 19 to 16% between 1 July – 30 December 2020. This tax incentive benefits BEVs as well as PHEVs.
Local Incentives for BEVs:
- Up to €1,500 in additional purchase grants from cities and municipalities depending on your place of residence (you check this here)
- Additional EV subsidies are also often paid by local energy producers to new or existing customers (you check this here)
- Free parking
- Reserved parking spots
- Bus lane use
EV Charging Incentives
Subsidies for private individuals:
National grants:
- KfW-Bank: 10-30% incentive for the purchase and installation of a wallbox charger
Local grants:
- Grants offered by cities, municipalities and federal states:
- Up to €3,500 (find out more in our detailed Germany EV incentive guide)
- Grants offered by energy providers:
- Up to €400 (find out more in our detailed Germany EV incentive guide)
Subsidies for public charging stations:
- A subsidy of up to €3,000 for purchasing charging stations of up to 22 kW.
- A subsidy of up to €12,000 for purchasing DC chargers up to 100 kW.
- A subsidy of up to €30,000 for purchasing DC chargers above 100 kW.
- Connections to the grid are subsidized by up to €5,000 for low voltage and €50,000 for medium voltage grid connections.
Tax Benefits
- Private and company car owners of plug-in electric vehicles that charge their cars in their employer premises are exempt from declaring this as a cash benefit in their income tax return.
- Company car owners that charge their EVs at home can even benefit from a tax reduction.
- Employers offering free charging of electric vehicles or bicycles will not be taxed for this service until 2030.
Check our German EV Incentive Guide for a more in-depth overview.
IU will post a link so you can read the whole article. Lest i be accused of Cherry-picking. With subsidies /kickbacks like this. wouldn't you buy an EV too? You;d be mad if you didn't
I used Deutschland because I can read their newspapers. The makers also offer incentives to buy 'em too. I will post the link shortly.
France appears to be the best, so far.
Vorsprung durch freebies....Marum.
