When German taxpayers finance electric cars from neighboring countries

Plus de 21.000 Tesla enregistrées en Allemagne cette année auraient « disparu » des routes allemandes

Posted Sep 27, 2022, 6:38 PMUpdated on Sep 27, 2022 at 7:44 PM

Buying a used Tesla with the help of German taxpayers? Hundreds of Scandinavians, Swiss or Austrians have done so legally. More than 150,000 electric vehicles sold in Germany with public subsidies have been exported in almost new condition, Schmidt Automotive Research noted. Of a total of 98,000 Tesla registered this year in Germany, only 76,690 would still drive on its roads, discovered the German cabinet.

The second-hand vehicles exported would have been acquired thanks to the bonuses for the purchase of electric vehicles set up under the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel to promote “electric” mobility. Some dealers have specialized in this “sector”, which allows them to pocket the bonus of up to 9,000 euros, reveals the daily “Handelsblatt” which interviewed several of them.

More than 4.6 billion in grants

Germany has paid a total of 4.6 billion euros since the introduction of the bonus in 2016, of which 250 million would have gone abroad thanks to resale. The Ministry of the Economy “aware” of the problem already wants to extend the period of detention of vehicles that can benefit from the subsidy from the current six months to twelve months.

Premiums will already be reduced, according to a compromise reached this summer between the Liberals, for the abolition of subsidies, and the Greens, who wanted their extension. The premium was to be reduced to a maximum of 4,500 euros per vehicle at the end of the year for vehicles costing up to 40,000 euros.

More expensive models will only be subsidized up to 3,000 euros. The maximum purchase price to benefit from a subsidy will also increase from 65,000 euros currently to 45,000 in the course of next year. In addition, aid for hybrid vehicles, which can currently go up to 6,750 euros, must be completely abolished at the end of the year.

The export system had prospered against a backdrop of shortages of electric vehicles in Denmark, Austria and Switzerland in particular.

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