Subsidies for car manufacturers: Habeck wants charging power credits for electric car buyers

Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) wants to stimulate the purchase of electric cars with charging credits and tax incentives and thus support the German car industry. It is proposed that electric car owners receive financial support when charging their vehicles – at least for a certain period of time.

“As an incentive to buy electric cars (new and used), we want to state-finance a charging current credit of 1,000 euros (for charging at publicly accessible charging stations),” says a concept from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, from which the Quote newspapers from the Funke media group.

Purchase incentives are also advocated. Tax incentives are to be introduced for e-car buyers with low and middle incomes. A certain proportion of the acquisition costs should be tax deductible, as is the case with the promotion of energy-efficient building renovation. The ministry also considers alternatives such as a “social leasing” model to be conceivable for people with low incomes. There is one like this in France.

Wagenknecht for “people’s leasing” to save the auto industry

The Sahra Wagenknecht alliance proposes a state-funded “people’s leasing” with installments starting at 58 euros. This should be based on the French model of “social leasing” for electric cars, but with one crucial difference: combustion engines with consumption of less than 5 liters per 100 kilometers should also be supported, demands party founder Sahra Wagenknecht. The rate would be as high as the monthly price for the Germany ticket from 2025.

“The Deutschlandticket is of no use to many people in Germany because there is simply no relevant local and long-distance public transport in their area,” said Wagenknecht to the German Press Agency. The infrastructure for electric cars is often lacking. What is needed is a state leasing program that guarantees low-fuel mobility for low and normal earners. Top earners should be left out of the program. She left it open how much it would cost.

“Such a rescue program for the German auto industry, which at the same time creates incentives to finally invest again in fuel-saving models, would not only be sensible, but also fair, because the support goes to those who really need it,” said Wagenknecht.

Great demand for “social leasing” in France

In order to get more electric cars on the road instead of combustion engines, France started so-called social leasing at the beginning of the year. The conditions are strict. The offer was aimed at people with very low incomes who rely on a car for work and live at least 15 kilometers from their place of work.

The offer was used by 50,000 households, twice as many as originally thought. Because the funding pot was empty and there was a lack of supplies of electric cars, applicants were temporarily no longer eligible. Due to austerity constraints, France is reducing its support for electric cars, but wants to continue social leasing. According to government figures, the market share of electric vehicles in new car sales in France has been 17.1 percent since the beginning of the year, which is above the European average.

Habeck also has an eye on the used electric car market

In addition to the purchase of new electric cars, the Federal Ministry of Economics is also looking at the used car market: “In order to stimulate the used car market, we want to subsidize professional battery checks with 100 euros,” says the paper.

It is said that used, purely electric vehicles that are exclusively equipped with an electric motor (BEV) make it easier for price-sensitive customers to get started with e-mobility. A professional battery check gives the potential buyer certainty about the condition of the used vehicle battery and thus about the residual value of the vehicle.

In Germany, electric vehicles have been struggling with sales difficulties for some time. At the end of 2023, the environmental bonus for electric cars was ended prematurely due to the budget crisis.

Make fines flexible for the automotive industry

In the paper, the ministry also proposes, against the background of the current sales problems, to make possible fines for the auto industry for violations of fleet limits more flexible and to create the possibility of avoiding fines from 2025 by overfulfilling the requirements for 2026 and 2027.

However, the incumbent red-green coalition’s scope for making decisions is limited. After the traffic light coalition broke up, the SPD and the Greens no longer have a majority in the Bundestag.