wsj.com: The German government is expected to approve new incentives for corporate purchases of electric vehicles on Wednesday in a bid to recharge the struggling market for battery-powered cars, according to several people familiar with the situation.
The initiative is part of Germany’s overall plan to reduce emissions that are believed to cause global warming and will be contained in a package of measures presented in cabinet by the economics and environment ministries, these people said.
One aspect of Germany’s strategy to cut emissions is to put at least one million electric vehicles on German roads by 2020 in order to enable the auto industry to meet European Union demands to reduce CO2 emissions to 95 grams per kilometer.
“This is the most ambitious target world-wide,” said Matthias Wissmann, head of the Association of German Automobile Manufacturers. “We’ll only achieve it if we put a lot more electric vehicles on the road.”
The government incentive plan calls for allowing companies to write off as much as 90% of the value of vehicles used for business purposes, said one person familiar with the matter. Corporate auto fleets account for about 60% of new-car sales in Germany.
The incentive is planned to take effect in January. Germany’s 16 federal states must also approve the measure because its implementation would result in lower taxes at the state level.
The move comes as it becomes clear that Germany is falling far short of its goal for electric-vehicle sales. By the end of November there were just 24,000 electric vehicles in use in Germany, boosted by new models such as BMW AG’s electric i3 compact and i8 sports car.
A commission that is advising the government warned that Germany might only achieve half its 2020 electric-vehicles target if new incentives are not introduced. With the help of tax incentives for corporate purchases, the commission predicts that the number of electric vehicles on the road in Germany could rise to more than 800,000 by 2020.
In a separate report presented to the government on Tuesday, the commission, which is called the National Platform for Electric Mobility, proposed a wide range of measures to boost electric-vehicle sales from tax incentives and expansion of public charging networks to increased support for research and development and creating a public-private partnership to develop battery cells.
The initiative is part of Germany’s overall plan to reduce emissions that are believed to cause global warming and will be contained in a package of measures presented in cabinet by the economics and environment ministries, these people said.
One aspect of Germany’s strategy to cut emissions is to put at least one million electric vehicles on German roads by 2020 in order to enable the auto industry to meet European Union demands to reduce CO2 emissions to 95 grams per kilometer.
“This is the most ambitious target world-wide,” said Matthias Wissmann, head of the Association of German Automobile Manufacturers. “We’ll only achieve it if we put a lot more electric vehicles on the road.”
The government incentive plan calls for allowing companies to write off as much as 90% of the value of vehicles used for business purposes, said one person familiar with the matter. Corporate auto fleets account for about 60% of new-car sales in Germany.
The incentive is planned to take effect in January. Germany’s 16 federal states must also approve the measure because its implementation would result in lower taxes at the state level.
The move comes as it becomes clear that Germany is falling far short of its goal for electric-vehicle sales. By the end of November there were just 24,000 electric vehicles in use in Germany, boosted by new models such as BMW AG’s electric i3 compact and i8 sports car.
A commission that is advising the government warned that Germany might only achieve half its 2020 electric-vehicles target if new incentives are not introduced. With the help of tax incentives for corporate purchases, the commission predicts that the number of electric vehicles on the road in Germany could rise to more than 800,000 by 2020.
In a separate report presented to the government on Tuesday, the commission, which is called the National Platform for Electric Mobility, proposed a wide range of measures to boost electric-vehicle sales from tax incentives and expansion of public charging networks to increased support for research and development and creating a public-private partnership to develop battery cells.
