Before the Auto Summit taking place on Monday Following the proposal by Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), parts of the SPD parliamentary group are pushing for several temporary emergency measures to stimulate sluggish electric car sales in Germany.
The central demand of the eight-point plan, which is available to the Tagesspiegel, is a scrappage bonus of up to 6,000 euros when buying a new electric car and handing in the combustion engine. If it is a used electric car, the bonus drops to 3,000 euros. This is primarily intended to take combustion engines with high CO₂ emissions off the market.
“The SPD expects the government to quickly adopt measures to boost sales of electric cars,” SPD politician Sebastian Roloff told the Tagesspiegel newspaper. Roloff is a member of the parliamentary group’s economic working group and co-authored the action paper.
SPD calls for stronger incentives for electric cars and infrastructure
In addition to the scrapping bonus, economic policymakers are also proposing seven other instruments to support the purchase of electric cars. For example, the tax deductibility of electric leasing vehicles is to be improved.
Those who do not have a car to “scrap” should also be supported in purchasing an electric car: There should be a bonus of around 2,500 euros for the purchase of a used electric car. To this end, the party wants to introduce a so-called social leasing program based on the French model: This should give people with low or middle incomes a state supplement to the leasing premium.
The paper also provides for targeted support for charging infrastructure. This will make the purchase of wall boxes, storage units and charging stations more financially attractive for private individuals and commercial providers. The main aim is to reduce fears that the range of electric cars is not sufficient to complete many journeys and that people will have to recharge or even stop somewhere.
“The fact that we have to spend money must not be an obstacle,” the economic politicians write in the paper: “It’s about the future of our core industry.” However, the pressure on the SPD-led federal government to support the struggling industry is not only coming from the Bundestag faction. The car state of Lower Saxony has also made clear demands ahead of the car summit on Monday.
Pressure on Scholz is also increasing from Lower Saxony
“We now have to use the big pot of possible measures with the big ladle,” said Economics and Transport Minister Olaf Lies (SPD) to the Tagesspiegel. “Just trying things out with a teaspoon and waiting to see what happens will not get us any further in the current situation,” said Lies. The SPD politician is calling for a “massive incentive program” to get consumers to switch from combustion engines to emission-free vehicles. The money needed for this is there. “I would have little understanding for letting the billions now freed up for the two chip factories in the federal budget leak away or even leaving them unused until some date,” said Lies.
In the traffic light coalition, opinions differ on how to boost the electric car market and help the struggling industry, however. far apartVice Chancellor Robert Habeck said on Friday that he was open to new government measures. The FDP’s expectations of the summit are muted. The party also sees the manufacturers as more responsible.
The German car industry is currently in the midst of a deep crisis. Sales of electric cars have plummeted. Many car manufacturers are currently not operating at full capacity. The half-year figures for VW, BMW and Mercedes were deep in the red. The situation is most dramatic at Volkswagen. The group has announced a massive austerity program, including possible factory closures. VW also recently canceled the employment guarantee that has been in place for decades.
