German car industry sceptical about EV purchase incentive, calls for lower charging costs

A new round of purchase incentives for electric vehicles planned by the prospective next German government has aroused scepticism among the country’s car industry, newspaper Die Welt reported. “We are against purchase incentives,” said BMW CEO Oliver Zipse, arguing that such a scheme could distort the market and would be difficult to phase out once introduced. After Germany previously cut purchase support, in the wake of the country’s debt brake ruling in late 2023, the disruption of the car market resulted in severe challenges for carmakers that were suddenly faced with plummeting sales.

The likely next German government of the conservative alliance of the Chistian Democrat Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) together with the Social Democrats (SPD) under CDU leader Friedrich Merz as chancellor proposed the re-introduction of an EV purchase premium in the context of their coalition negotiations. However, German car industry association VDA said it instead hoped for lower taxes on electricity and a more transparent EV charging point market. For EVs to become accepted and adopted fast, it was necessary to ensure “that charging e-cars is simple and transparent and, above all, comes with a cost advantage,” said VDA head Hildegard Müller.

VDA called for a state-sponsored price comparison portal that would help customers find cost-efficient solutions themselves. Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume argued that China offered EV charging at merely three to four cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), which makes it much more attractive to buy an electric car. Prices at public charging points in Germany vary between 30 and 90 cents/kWh and EV drivers often need several service cards from various providers to have access to all installation, according to VDA.