According to the federal government, 27 percent of the applications for the purchase bonus for cars with electric drives have been rejected. Reasons for this were not given. The rejection rate varies depending on the federal state.
More than one in four applications for the purchase premium for cars with electric drive has not yet been approved. The approval rate for the 234,805 applications submitted by the end of July was 73 percent, as the federal government announced to the Bundestag at the request of the FDP.
The federal state with the lowest rate was therefore Saarland with 70 percent, the highest in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia with 76 percent. Reasons were not given.
Funding applications at a record high
The “environmental bonus” has been intended to boost sales of e-cars and plug-in hybrids in Germany since 2016. Since the federal government increased it sharply as part of the Corona economic stimulus package, the number of funding applications has climbed to a record high.
According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, the so-called innovation bonus – that’s the name of the currently increased environmental bonus – was applied for 19,993 times in July. Since the beginning of the year, 69,606 applications have been made, 78.6 percent more than in the same period last year.
State funding doubled
So far, the state and the car manufacturer had shared the premium in equal parts, now the state has doubled its share in order to promote the ailing auto industry. The increased premium is valid until the end of 2021. Pure electric cars are subsidized with up to 9,000 euros.
“The rejections of funding applications for e-cars are particularly high,” said the FDP transport politician Bernd Reuther of the German press agency. “That is why the federal government has to get to the bottom of the cause here. As a result, it must not shy away from addressing structural problems and taking corrective action.”
Criticism of the promotion of plugin hybrids
Environmentalists criticize that even plug-in hybrids – with up to 6750 euros – are subsidized, although the electric drive does not have to be used with these. As can be seen from the response of the federal government to the current FDP request, 85,782 plug-in hybrids have been funded since the start of the environmental bonus, making them a share of around 36.5 percent.
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