The German government has announced a €130 billion package to try and help get its vast economy moving again in the post-COVID world. A huge chunk of that money is to go towards encouraging and incentivising the use of electric power in transport and especially cars.
€6,000 off the price of a new EV
Of that €130 billion, €2.2 billion will be spent incentivising buyers to switch to electric vehicles. The German government says that it's also going to alter its car tax rules to reduce costs for electric vehicles, but make more polluting cars more expensive. Berlin is also going to double the subsidy paid to buyers of electric cars - from €3,000 to €6,000 for cars priced up to €40,000.
€2.5 billion for charging network
In other measures, investments in electric tech made by the carmakers and their suppliers will be backed up by a government fund of €1 billion, while an additional €2.5 billion will be invested in expanding the electric car charging network.
More funding, €1.2 billion, will be made available for bus and truck operators to try and help them shift to electric and hybrid power, while Germany is calling for a Eurozone-wide scrappage programme to encourage HGV fleets to trade in their old Euro1-3 models for newer, cleaner, EuroVI models. Linked to that will be an investment programme to promote the development of hydrogen fuel and power for future HGV designs.
Massive investments
Reacting to the new, Stef Cornelis, Germany director for environmental think-tank Transport & Environment, said: "After France now Germany is pointing the way forward with massive investments in electric cars, recharging infrastructure and railways. This is exactly what's needed to support jobs and help us emerge stronger and greener from the COVID crisis. The plan isn't perfect but it should be a wake-up call for the Commission and other European countries ahead of the all-important decision on the EU's €750 billion recovery and resilience fund."
T&E did disagree with the Germans on some points, though, saying that EU cash should not be used to help truck fleets buy new diesel models, and criticised the decision to allow €1 billion to be given to the airline industry to allow it to buy new aircraft. Stef Cornelis said: "Germany is about to take over the presidency of the EU in three weeks' time. It must use its leadership to make sure the Commission's big recovery plan is used to strengthen and green the economies of countries like Spain and Italy."