Environment minister considers scrap bonus for combustion engines possible

German environment minister Barbara Hendricks would consider rewarding owners of cars with combustion engines if they decide to dispense with their vehicles, the minister said in an interview with Welt Online. A so-called scrapping premium would “not come in this election period” but “cannot be ruled out” in the future, Hendricks said. A prerequisite would be to have enough electricity from renewable sources to power a growing fleet of e-cars, she said. Hendricks told Welt Online there had to be various approaches for achieving Germany’s Climate Action Plan goal of substantially reducing the share of combustion engines by 2030. Besides financial measures, this also included upgrading public transportation with better services at cheaper fares, Hendricks said.

Read the interview in German here.

Read more on the future of mobility in Germany in the CLEW dossier The energy transition and Germany’s transport sector.