The German government is set to increase electric car incentives to accelerate the transition away from the combustion engine.
The government’s push to promote electric cars includes boosting the number of public EV charging stations to 50,000 within two years. Automakers will help fund 15,000 of the stations by 2022.
A so-called “Environment Bonus” for battery-electric cars priced up to 40,000 euros will be raised by half to as much as 6,000 euros per vehicle and the auto industry will continue to cover half the cost. The bonus paid for cars with a list price of over 40,000 euros will be 5,000 euros.
This should make it possible to offer the rebate to purchasers of another 650,000 to 700,000 electric vehicles. Half of the bonus is shouldered by industry and half by the German government.
The plan is for the bonus to be paid until the end of 2025 – rather than the end of 2020 as previously intended. This is to give companies and consumers security on which to make long-term plans.
More charging stations for electric cars
Parallel to this, the German government intends to put in place one million public charging stations as laid out in its Charging Structure Masterplan, so that ten million electric cars can drive on German roads by the end of the next decade. The automobile industry has agreed to provide some 15,000 public charging stations by 2022.
BMW has said it will install 4,100 charging points at its German locations by 2021, with about half being open to the public.
Over the next two years the number of charging stations with public access is to rise to around 50,000. There are currently around 21,100 public charging stations for electric cars. Under the government’s climate action plan, one million public charging stations are to be installed by 2030. More support is also to be given to individuals installing private charging points.
Automated driving
Germany is to be a trailblazer in automated and networked driving. Pro-innovation legal and technical frameworks are to be put in place swiftly and automated driving functions introduced on the roads.
Alternative engine technology
The German government is preparing a comprehensive hydrogen strategy. It is to be crucially important for the future of mobility.
