“Spurned gifts”

The buyer’s premium for alternative car engines introduced by the German government last May has largely failed its objective of boosting the sale of e-cars, writes Dana Heide in Handelsblatt. Economy minister Sigmar Gabriel expected the one-billion-euro support programme to push the number of vehicles with alternative engines to “above 500,000”, but there had only been about 7,370 requests for e-cars, hybrid cars and fuel cell cars combined until the beginning of December, according to Heide. Under the buyer’s premium scheme, buyers of e-cars receive a reduction of 4,000 euros on the car’s price, while buyers of hybrid cars get a 3,000 euro deduction. Critics of the premium, such as the Green party, have argued that the subsidy will primarily benefit wealthier customers of e-cars which often sell at prices well above 30,000 euros, Heide writes.

See the CLEW dossiers on The energy transition and Germany’s transport sector and carmarkers’ challenges for more information on efforts to ramp up electrified mobility.