German EV subsidy attracts 2,000 applicants in first month
Just under 2,000 German electric vehicle buyers have applied for the government’s EV discount scheme since its launch just five weeks ago. BMW’s i3 has emerged as a particular winner of the scheme, with nearly one third of applicants using the grant to purchase one. The grant offers a discount of €4,000 on electric vehicles and €3,000 on plug-in hybrids.

Earlier this year, the German government decided to subsidize the purchase of electric or plug-in hybrid models. The newly introduced incentives have already had an effect on the i3 sales, the demand being “many times over” what the company recorded back in 2013, when the electric car was initially launched. Now Automotive News reports that nearly 2,000 people in Germany have applied for the government’s electric car discount scheme, and a third of them are buyers of BMW models.

The incentives are similar to other European countries which aided the rise of electric and hybrid cars. In Germany, the buyers of electric cars get a 4,000 euro discount while buyers of plug-in hybrid vehicles receive a discount of 3,000 euros.

Since its introduction, 1,791 buyers of electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles have applied for the discounts and 581 of them were buyers of BMW models, notably its i3 electric car, the BAFA economic affairs and export control agency said. There were 444 applications for the discounts from buyers of Renault models and 154 applications from buyers of Volkswagen models, BAFA said.

The total 1.2 billion euro cost of the incentives is being shared equally between the German government and carmakers, with a goal of selling around 400,000 electric cars in Europe’s biggest car market. The incentives plan is set to explore in June 2019.