Germany suddenly dropped its bonus for electric cars this weekend. New electric cars that were registered as of December 18th did not receive a bonus.
The move was met with criticism, especially because the decision came so suddenly.
– We think the funding freeze on December 17, which was announced at short notice last Saturday, is extremely unfortunate, commented the three deputy leaders of the parliamentary group Verena Hubertz, Detlef Müller and Matthias Miersch to the German news agency Dpa. The opposition now demands a more “reliable ending” to the bonus.
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner defended the measure by saying that it was never guaranteed how long the bonus would be paid out.
Tesla was first to step up and cover for de subsidy for new orders with delivery before the end of the year. Another manufacturer that also announced that they cover the bonus until the end of the year is Stellantis (Peugeot, Opel Fiat and Jeep). Mercedes and Smart have also announced that they will cover the missed bonus on all new registrations of electric cars up to and including the turn of the year.
The cancellation of the bonus in Germany was quite aggressive and can be related to how the bonus was abolished in Sweden about a year ago. In Sweden, the market were given one day’s notice, which caused customers to rush to the car dealerships on November 8. The fact that the car manufacturers are now temporarily compensating customers in Germany may well bring a similar rush to the car dealerships. The expectation is that more car manufacturers will follow in the footsteps of Tesla, Mercedes, Stellantis and Smart.
