The new Flemish Mobility Minister Annick De Ridder warned that the number of EV premium requests has already surpassed 11,700, doubling the budget initially foreseen by predecessor Lydia Peeters (Open Vld).
De Ridder (N-VA) wanted to take a decretional decision to abolish the premium as soon as possible. This decision was voted positively on Wednesday by the Flemish Parliament. It determines that the last day to be entitled to the premium is November 22nd.
The premium for purchasing a new (up to €5,000) or second-hand (up to €3,000) BEV is a pure Flemish feat. The price barrier for obtaining the premium was set at €40,000 actual purchase price.
Former Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters installed it to encourage individual buyers to buy electric, the market being (over)dominated by the purchase of EVs in the company car segment.
Big success
The premium has become a big success, and until recently, 11,531 requests had been received from individual owners, 9,736 of them for new electric cars, 1,854 for second-hand ones, and 121 and 118 from non-profit organizations and car-sharing businesses, respectively.
Lydia Peeters initially estimated the cost of the operation to be around €28 million. Current Mobility Minister spokesman Xavier Lesenne estimates it is “between €55 and €60 million” and is still growing. The end figure could turn around €70 million.
The premium could still be requested until the end of the year, but the new Mobility Minister, Annick De Ridder, wanted to terminate this as soon as possible. By doing so, she’s following the German example of December last year, which caused an absolute disaster in the sales of electric cars in Germany.
“We are going to halt this premium, which has been questioned by many people, as soon as possible,” said Flemish Mobility Minister Annick De Ridder in the Flemish Parliament. What ‘asap’ means here is now confirmed as being on the 23rd of November. So it won’t last until the end of December.
Electric car buyers who have officially bought their car before that date and fulfill the conditions for a premium can still demand it until the end of the year.
Sector not happy
Sector federation Traxio, representing the car dealers, isn’t very happy. “We keep hoping that the Flemish government keeps its promise,” says spokesman Filip Rylant. “Such a decision will lead to another breach of trust with the customer/citizen,” he adds.
Importer and manufacturer federation Febiac deplores that the Flemish government intends to stop the premium just two months before it was actually planned to end. Febiac points out that the premium has positively influenced the EV market for individual buyers.
“Before the measure can be abolished, some formal steps have to be taken, and that can last several weeks,” says Michel Martens, director at Febiac. “Potential buyers still have time till the end of November to order an EV. Once the contract is signed, the buyer can easily report his purchase digitally through the Flemish government’s e-counter. He will be entitled to the premium, even when his car will be delivered in 2025.”
Febiac also says that stopping earlier will lead to uncertainty for potential EV buyers and that one month earlier won’t make a big difference budget-wise. “The sector needs more legal certainty, not less,” Martens concludes.
In the Flemish Parliament, the liberal fraction (inventor of the premium) voted divided, and most other fractions voted in favor of the decretional decision.
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