The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimatschutz, or BMWK in German) will increase the budget for the environmental bonus this year. It had initially earmarked €2,1 billion for this purpose in 2023. That will now be increased to at least €2,5 billion.

The information comes from a report by Tagesspiegel. The Ministry says: “To ensure predictability and security for consumers and the economy, BMWK will increase the funds for 2023 by at least 400 million euros.” 1,72 billion euros have already been spent this year.

The German newspaper Handelsblatt reports that subsidies, which were reduced at the beginning of 2023, will remain unchanged in the current year. The environmental bonus for commercial vehicles will be discontinued in September.

Manufacturers must do their share

Handelsblatt quotes Bernd Reuther, transport policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group: “I see it as the manufacturers’ duty to offer cheaper cars.” If the state subsidized prices permanently, the carmakers would have no incentives to lower them.

The Green Party agrees: “It is important to enter into dialogue with the manufacturers so that not only large cars but also small and medium-sized cars are produced at favorable prices,” says the party’s transport policy spokesman Stefan Gelbhaar.

More than 2 million demands

Here are a few figures to put this all into perspective. The government received 146 692 applications for the environmental bonus in the first half of 2023. Only purely electric vehicles are still eligible since the beginning of the year.

Also, only EVs with a net list price of less than €65 000 are eligible, and there is no obligation to apply, meaning the number of applications is not equivalent to the number of registrations. According to KBA statistics, 220 189 electric cars were newly registered in the year’s first half. This means that more than 70 000 BEVs cost more than 65 000 euros, or their owners didn’t bother to apply for the premium.

Since the start of the environmental bonus, the Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle (BAFA) has received 2 012 309 applications. 1 206 971 were for pure electric vehicles, 804 882 for plug-in hybrids (ended in December 2022), and 456 for fuel cell cars.