Prices and costs of e-cars reach level of combustion engine cars – think tank

Thanks to government subsidies, fully electric cars have become an economical alternative to combustion engine vehicles when it comes to purchase price as well as total costs that arise in the first five years of use, according to an analysis conducted by Agora Verkehrswende. The Berlin-based transport sector think tank evaluated data from the ADAC German automobile association for the approximately 8,000 new car models available in Germany. It found that large e-cars are often cheaper than combustion engine vehicles both in terms of purchase price and in total cost, even without subsidies. Smaller electric models, on the other hand, would still be more expensive than comparable combustion engine cars without funding. E-car subsidies in Germany can reach up to 9,000 euros. Agora Verkehrswende advocates making total costs more transparent for potential buyers and also aligning e-car subsidies more closely to medium and small-sized vehicles. The think tank also calls for future funding measures to include pre-owned cars. "Now is the right moment to prepare differentiated funding for electromobility and to reduce long-term subsidies for combustion vehicles and fuels," said Agora Verkehrswende head Christian Hochfeld. “The market development is promising. Along with the stricter European limit values ​​for CO2 emissions from new cars, the purchase bonuses have led to a significant increase in sales.”

Germany’s new government is aiming to put 15 million fully electric cars on the road by 2030. To facilitate more e-car sales, company and state car regulations and vehicle tax have to be consistently geared towards CO2 emissions and CO2 prices on fuels must be increased, Hochfeld added.