More and more cars in Germany run on electricity, but diesel and gasoline still dominate. Now the purchase premiums for electric cars will be increased and significantly more charging stations will be installed. But that alone is not enough.
The number of charging points – whether public or private – is to increase significantly to cope with the growing number of electric cars. ©John Cameron / Unsplash
Car buyers can look forward to significantly higher subsidies when purchasing an electric vehicle. This is to accelerate the departure from the internal combustion engine for more climate protection. In addition to higher purchase premiums, the federal government and the auto industry agreed to install significantly more charging stations. "We have made a significant leap forward," Bernhard Mattes, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, said Tuesday.
For e-cars up to a net list price of 40.In the future, there will be a purchase bonus of 6000 euros instead of 4000 euros for cars with a purchase price of 1000 euros, and 5000 euros for more expensive cars. The subsidy should also increase for plug-in hybrids. According to Mattes, it will also be available for so-called young used cars, which have not been subsidized so far. Instead of until 2020, the premium will now be paid until 2025. As before, the federal government and the automotive industry each want to pay half of the costs, which amount to well over two billion euros.
Will the e-car be suitable for the masses?
"We now need the mass effectiveness of tomorrow's mobility," Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) had called for after the top-level meeting on Monday evening. The goal now, he said, is to pick up the pace and make e-cars suitable for everyday use. The higher premium is expected to pay for an additional 650.000 to 700.000 electric vehicles to be promoted.
However, the chairman of the transport committee in the Bundestag, Cem ozdemir (Greens), does not see a solution in replacing 47 million fossil combustion cars with 47 million e-cars. "Then we have less exhaust fumes, less noise in the inner cities, but the problem with gridlock is not solved," said ozdemir on Tuesday in the ZDF "morning show". Instead, he said, more reliance should be placed on shared cars, public transportation and bicycles.
Industry and government have also agreed to pay an additional 50.000 public charging points to set up. Of this, the auto industry will pay 15.000. From the auto industry's point of view, however, charging points at private homes also need to be promoted more strongly. "The planned funding of 50 million euros is far from sufficient," Mattes said.
Baden-Wurttemberg a role model for charging network
The federal government now needs to ensure an expansion plan so that charging points go where there is a need, he said. Baden-Wurttemberg could be a model for this. In addition, the government must talk to energy suppliers and grid operators about uniform charging conditions. "It is important that will take away the customer's fear that he can not always load."
According to a "master plan charging infrastructure" of the German government, seven to ten million e-cars are needed in Germany by then in order to achieve the climate targets 2030. Although new registrations of e-cars are increasing, but at a still low level. Automakers plan to launch numerous e-cars in the coming months and years, including in the mass market.
To prevent job losses, the German government wants to examine whether the instruments of the short-time allowance need to be "tightened up or adapted. Central topics in the change of the industry are also qualification and further training, he said. Mattes said that there would be another meeting of the "Concerted Action on Mobility" on this subject in the spring.