Common questions
The state environmental bonus for electric cars ends earlier than planned. What consumers should pay attention to now – and how manufacturers can react to the end of the purchase bonus. The most important questions and answers.
Until when can applications still be submitted?
The federal government is accelerating the planned early end of the state's electric car purchase bonus. From December 17, 2023, no new applications for environmental bonuses can be submitted to the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA), the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection in Berlin announced. Funding already promised will therefore not be affected by the end of funding and will be paid.
Existing applications received up to and including December 17, 2023 will be processed in the order in which they are received and – provided funding requirements are met – approved, the ministry explained. A spokesperson told “Spiegel” that car buyers could only submit an application if they already had the car registered.
How high can the environmental bonus be?
From January 1, 2023, only battery and fuel cell vehicles will be financed and no more hybrid vehicles. Furthermore, since September 1st, only private individuals can request the environmental bonus.
More recently, the environmental bonus was 4,500 euros with a net list price of the basic car model of 40,000 euros and 3,000 euros with a net list price of over 40,000 euros to 65,000 euros.
Why is the government cutting the premium early?
In mid-November, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the federal government was not authorized to reallocate Corona loans. This created a billion-dollar hole in the budget. The Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) – which also finances the financing of electric cars – has been particularly affected. The traffic light coalition made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP agreed on Wednesday how the billion-dollar holes will be plugged after the budget decision. In the compromise on the 2024 federal budget, the parties agreed that the end of the environmental bonus would be brought forward. Under current funding guidelines, the bonus should not have expired until next year.
How popular was the funding program?
To boost sales, the federal government at the time opted for a purchase bonus in 2016. The current government's objective was, in fact, to use the financing to put a total of 15 million fully electric cars on the roads by 2030.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, since 2016 around ten billion euros have been paid for around 2.1 million electric vehicles. The financing program was very successful and significantly advanced electromobility in Germany.
According to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control, around 376,000 orders for electric vehicles have been received so far this year and 2.4 billion euros have been paid. The number of vehicles requested fell in 2023 compared to 2022. In the previous year, 3.4 billion euros were approved for 820 thousand vehicles.
What do consumer advocates say about the suspension of financing?
In principle, the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations welcomed the early termination of state funding. “Purchase bonuses were important in the short term to stimulate the spread of electric cars,” the federal association's mobility expert Marion Jungbluth told the dpa news agency.
In the long term, however, market growth cannot be financed at taxpayer expense. But: “We need to ensure that at least everyone who has already ordered their electric vehicle with confidence in financing receives a bonus.” To achieve this, the federal government must make the date of purchase the decisive factor.
How do experts assess the future of electric cars?
Experts now fear that electric car sales could collapse. “In our opinion, the budget crisis is leading the automotive industry in Germany towards an electric car crisis,” said industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer. He expects a decline of up to 200,000 electric car sales in Germany by 2024. Without subsidies, electric cars would be significantly too expensive for new car buyers.
ADAC is also convinced that the end of funding will be too soon. The automobile club complained that only three vehicles under 30,000 euros were available on the German market. It is to be expected that there will now be greater competition and that prices will fall. “Manufacturers must also increase the range of cheaper vehicles,” said an ADAC spokeswoman.
Like consumer advocates, ADAC criticized the procedure of only making a financing commitment when a vehicle is registered and not when it is purchased. The decision is particularly bitter for consumers who have already ordered an electric vehicle but cannot register it before December 17th because they took the environmental bonus into account.
Sabine Henkel, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, December 16, 2023 1:13 pm