Sweden scraps climate bonus for EVs and PHEVs overnight

The new Swedish government has scrapped EV and PHEV bonuses quasi overnight, excluding all cars bought after November 8th, 2022. “The cost of owning and driving a climate bonus car is starting to be comparable to the cost of owning and driving a petrol or diesel car. Therefore, the climate bonus is abolished,” the government’s site states.

Only those who ordered their car in the first half of this year will get the full bonus of SEK 70 000 (€6 461) for BEVs. For vehicles ordered before November 8th and registered after that date, the maximum compensation is lowered to SEK 50 000 (€4 615). The malus system, the increased vehicle tax for cars with high emissions of CO2, is left unchanged.

Total Cost of Ownership

For plugin hybrids (PHEV) ordered before November 8th, the bonus of SEK 10 000 (€923) will apply only to those emitting less than 30 g/100 km of CO2 instead of 60 g. Cars running on natural gas or biogas are eligible for the same bonus if already ordered. From now on, those hoping to still collect a ‘climate bonus car’ will have made an effort for nothing.

The Swedish government points to the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of electric cars compared to classic combustion engine cars to justify the sudden decision. And as half of the new vehicles sold in Sweden today were already so-called ‘climate bonus cars’, “state market introduction support is therefore no longer justified.”

The LeasePlan Cost Index 2021 – already then – showed that EVs in the popular lease segments were cheaper than ICE cars in most Western European countries. A good example is the Volkswagen ID.3, which is more affordable in 12 out of 22 countries than the Golf.

In Belgium, the HR service bureau Acerta confirmed this with its own figures, stating an electric (company) car is, on average, 50% more expensive than its sibling with an internal combustion engine (ICE). Still, that’s not the case in Total Cost of Ownership (TOC).

PHEV sales declining in Sweden

During the first three quarters of this year, 58 022 BEVs were sold in Sweden, compared to 37 388 (+55,2%) in the same period of last year, according to figures from the European carmakers federation ACEA. PHEVs accounted for 47 346 cars, compared to 59 606 in 2021 (-20,6%).

Natural gas, also considered ‘climate bonus cars’ by the former government, accounted for 1 294 registrations, against 1 220 (+6,1%). Classic hybrids (HEV), where no ‘climate bonus’ was applied, were less popular than PHEVs, with 19 128 cars in 2022 and 17 880 in 2021 (+7,0%).