Renault Germany CEO calls on Berlin to maintain e-car purchase premium

Renault Germany CEO Uwe Hochgeschurtz has appealed to the German government to maintain the purchase premium for e-cars ahead of Wednesday’s auto summit with Chancellor Angela Merkel. In an interview with Henrik Mortsiefer in energy policy newsletter Tagesspiegel Background, Hochgeschurtz said he could “only recommend paying the innovation premium at a very attractive level after 2021,” adding that there were strong economic arguments to do so. Germany needs electrification in order to meet the Paris Agreement goals; the share of renewable energy sources in the electricity mix is ​​increasing, which improves the carbon footprint of electric cars; and power generation in Germany creates jobs and added value in the country, something the extraction of oil and gas abroad does not do. Despite the coronavirus crisis, 2020 has been “a huge success” for Renault, Hochgeschurtz added. Currently the largest car importer in Germany, Renault had sold more than 20,000 electric Renault Zoe models in the country by the end of October, including more than 5,000 in October alone. “Of course we know that strong competitors are entering the mass market. But that only confirms that our strategy is correct.”

Electromobility in Germany has "passed the turning point in 2020 and can no longer be stopped," Hochgeschurtz stressed. The federal transport and economic affairs ministries, along with industry representatives, are planning a meeting on the topic of charging stations. According to the VDA, there is currently one charging point for 13 electric cars on average; in six months, 20 cars will probably have to share one. A study published earlier this year by the German energy agency dena and the consultancy Prognos similarly found that a lack of charging points in German cities could hamper the rollout of electric mobility in the coming years.