BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) wants to boost the purchase of electric cars with charging credits and tax incentives in order to support the German car industry. It is proposed that e-car owners receive financial support for charging their vehicles - at least for a certain period of time.

"We want to finance a charging credit of 1,000 euros (for charging at publicly accessible charging stations) as an incentive to buy e-cars (new and used)," states a concept from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, quoted by the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers.

It also calls for purchase incentives. A tax incentive is to be introduced for e-car buyers with low and medium incomes. A certain proportion of the purchase costs should be tax-deductible, as with the requirement for energy-efficient building refurbishment. With regard to e-cars, the ministry also considers alternatives such as a social leasing model to be conceivable for people on low incomes.

Also looking at the used car market

In addition to the purchase of new e-cars, the paper also looks at the used car market: "To boost the used car market, we want to subsidize professional battery checks with 100 euros," it says.

Used, purely electric vehicles that are equipped exclusively with an electric motor (BEV) make it easier for price-sensitive customers in particular to get into e-mobility, it says. A professional battery check provides potential buyers with certainty about the condition of the used vehicle battery and therefore the residual value of the vehicle.

In Germany, electric vehicles have been struggling with sales difficulties for some time now. At the end of 2023, the environmental bonus for electric cars was discontinued prematurely at the end of 2023 due to the budget crisis.

Flexible penalty payments for the automotive industry

In the paper, the BMWK also proposes, against the backdrop of the current sales problems, to make possible fines for the car industry for violations of the fleet limits more flexible and to create the possibility of avoiding fines from 2025 by overfulfilling the requirements for 2026 and 2027.

However, the scope for the current red-green coalition to make decisions is limited. Following the break-up of the traffic light coalition, the SPD and Greens no longer have a majority in the Bundestag./sl/hoe/DP/men