On Wednesday, the German government, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65, SPD), Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (54, Greens), and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (44, FDP), announced their budget-cutting measures for 2024. Among these measures is the early termination of the environmental bonus, a purchase incentive for electric cars that offered up to €6,000 in subsidies.
The end date for this program has now been confirmed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection: December 17, 2023. This means that after 10:15 a.m. on that day, no new applications for the environmental bonus can be submitted to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA).
To be eligible for the bonus, car buyers must have registered their vehicle and submitted an application to the BAFA before the deadline. This leaves a mere 37 hours and 45 minutes for prospective buyers to take advantage of the incentive.
The government has assured that applications that have already been approved will not be affected and will be paid out as promised. Additionally, applications received by the BAFA on or before December 17, 2023, will be processed in the order of their submission and approved if the eligibility requirements are met.
The environmental bonus, first introduced in 2016 by the Grand Coalition, has supported the purchase of 2.1 million electric vehicles with a total of around €10 billion in funding. The original plan was to reduce the bonus in 2024 (to a maximum of €3,000) and then phase it out by the end of the year.
Professor Dr. Sahin Albayrak from the Technical University of Berlin criticized the decision, stating that it dealt a blow to the mobility shift and climate protection. He argued that the abrupt capping of the promotion of electric cars would hinder the acceptance of electric driving in Germany and slow down research on modern, carbon-free means of transportation.
Is this a pure Elon Musk defensive move?
Thanks to our friend Anton Wahlman for the tipoff...