The state supports these cars with the e-car premium

D he acquisition ( Purchase or leasing) an electric vehicle can now be rewarded with a bonus of up to 6,000 euros. Plug-in hybrids are funded with 4,500 euros. The subsidy is increased by 50 percent for vehicles with a net list price of up to 40,000 euros. For vehicles with a net list price of over 40,000 euros, it increases by 25 percent. Above a net list price of 40,000 to a maximum of 65,000 euros, the environmental bonus for purely electric vehicles will be 5,000 euros and for plug-in hybrids 3,750 euros. The Federal Ministry of Economics announced on February 11, 2020 that the European Commission has no objections to the higher financial support for electric vehicles in Germany. Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier said: “I am delighted that the European Commission today gave the green light for the adjustment of the environmental bonus for electric vehicles. That is a good signal, as the new funding can start shortly ”. The modified funding guidelines will be published in the Federal Gazette in February and will come into force.

The funding applies to purely battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) as well as to plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). Industry will continue to share half of the environmental bonus. The federal government decided to increase the premium significantly in November 2019.

The premium is also retroactive

The best thing: Anyone who ordered their electric car at the end of last year doesn't have to worry: The new funding rates apply to all vehicles registered after November 4, 2019. According to media reports, the delay in the entry into force arose because the EU Commission had not yet received a detailed description of the new funding program by the beginning of January, and consequently it could not be checked. As 'Zeit online' wrote, the reason for this was the disagreement in the federal government about the scope of funding. So it would have been fought to the last about which vehicles should be included in the list in addition to the models previously classified as eligible.

The hangover was mainly at the expense of car dealers. Because, on the one hand, many prospective buyers were reluctant to buy while the old, lower premium was still in effect. On the other hand, a run on available vehicles is feared as soon as the higher purchase premium comes into force. In addition, not all manufacturers have had the increased so farOwn share of the funding is priced into their offer, so that whoever signed the purchase contract would have to forego this part of the higher funding.

More plug-in hybrids eligible for funding again

With the 1.9. In 2018, some plug-in hybrid models were removed from the list of eligible vehicles. The background: A prerequisite for e-car funding is a CO2 emission of less than 50 g /CO2 per kilometer. After the test cycle has been changed from NEDC to WLTP for the new Euro 6c emissions standard from the key date, consumption and thus CO2 emissions will also increase for some models. However, the manufacturers reacted to this and installed larger batteries, which is why the new model versions are again eligible for funding.

Since then, numerous PHEVs have also been added, especially for the 2020 model year, the range of eligible BEV and PHEV has increased enormously. In the BAFA list, almost 200 electric cars and around 100 plug-in hybrids are currently noted as eligible, although some of these are different equipment versions of the same model.

Dino Eisele

Fuel cell vehicles like the Hyundai Nexo are also funded.

The trick with the price

Since e-cars are currently only subsidized up to a net price of 60,000 euros, more expensive vehicles such as the Model S from Tesla are falling out of the grid. For a short time, Tesla had countered this with a price that had not been activated for convenience extras, but the prices have now been increased so that only Model 3 is eligible for funding. Apparently, they also had a very sharp pen when calculating the base price for the Mercedes EQC: This is 71,281 euros and thus exactly 100 euros net below the 60,000 mark. Other manufacturers have also recently reacted to this and are offering models with smaller batteries or lower power at an eligible price - for example Audi with the new E-Tron 50 variant.

Download: Current list of eligible vehicles

The most important facts about e-car funding, as of February 2020

• Purchase bonus for electric cars: up to 6,000 euros
• Purchase bonus for plug-in -Hybrid models: up to 4,500 euros
• No premiumget hybrid vehicles without external charging options
• Maximum vehicle price for the premium: up to 40,000 euros for a maximum premium, up to 65,000 euros for a reduced premium (5,000 /3,750 euros BEV /PHEV)
• From On March 3, 2018, the double funding ban was lifted. Several similar subsidy programs can be used, such as regional e-car subsidies
• The premium is processed directly when purchasing a product through the manufacturer; since July 2, 2016, applications for the environmental bonus can be submitted to the BAFA