Who a Electric car If you buy or lease, you will receive between 1,500 and 6,000 euros from the state in the future, depending on your personal circumstances and type of vehicle. Those who earn less or have children receive more within this range. What you need to know now about the new funding program.
How much money is there when buying purely electric cars?
The funding limit is a household income of 80,000 euros. This roughly corresponds to a monthly net income of 4,800 euros for single people and 5,400 euros for couples, according to the Federal Environment Ministry. The maximum funding limit is 90,000 euros in household income if there are two children, which raises the limit by 5,000 euros each.
The basic funding for purely electric cars is 3,000 euros. For households with a maximum income of 60,000 euros there is 4,000 euros, for households with a maximum income of 45,000 euros there is 5,000 euros. The funding increases by 500 euros per child, up to a maximum of 1,000 euros in total.
What about cars that aren’t purely electric?
There is less money for so-called plug-in hybrids, which can run on both electricity and fuel. For these cars and vehicles with a range extender, the basic funding is 1,500 euros. Range extenders are small combustion engines that increase the range of electric cars.
In order for cars with these technologies to be eligible, they must not emit more than 60 grams of CO₂ per kilometer or must have an electric range of at least 80 kilometers. The funding will be put to the test from July 1, 2027, and specifications will then be considered that are more closely aligned with CO₂ emissions in real operations.
When does the new funding apply?
Anyone who has registered their electric car or certain plug-in hybrids from January 1st can apply for funding. This applies to both purchasing and leasing. However, you will probably only be able to apply for the new funding from May, when the corresponding internet portal is due to launch.
A total of three billion euros is earmarked for the purchase bonus, which, according to the ministry, should be enough for around 800,000 subsidized vehicles by 2029.
What support has there been from the state so far?
There is currently no purchase bonus for electric cars. At the end of 2023, the then traffic light coalition made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP abruptly stopped the so-called environmental bonus in order to plug budget holes. At that time the amount was up to 4,500 euros, half of which had to be borne by the manufacturers. From 2024 the premium would have fallen to 3,000 euros and it should have expired at the end of 2024.
How popular are electric cars?
Their share of all new registrations increased last year to a good 19 percent, around 5.6 percentage points compared to the previous year. In October, the federal government announced the reintroduction of an electric car purchase bonus, which is due to come later this year.
Although there was an increase of 45 percent compared to the previous year, sales collapsed in 2024 after the surprising end of funding. Compared to 2023, the increase in 2025 was only around 4 percent, calculates traffic expert Constantin Gall from the consulting firm EY. Electric cars recently made up around 4 percent of the inventory.
Why are plug-in hybrids controversial?
So-called plug-in hybrids can run on both electricity and fuel. How environmentally friendly they are is controversial. Although the cars can drive shorter distances purely electrically, if the battery is empty, they consume more fuel due to the additional weight and therefore emit more CO₂. In addition, their production produces more CO₂ than a combustion engine.
Whether they are better or worse for the climate than comparable combustion engines depends mainly on how often they are charged and how high the proportion of distances covered by electricity is. Critics believe that the official consumption figures are at least far too low. However, they are particularly popular with company fleets because of their tax advantages.
There was also government funding of up to 2,250 euros for plug-in hybrids until the end of 2022.
In the long term, the allocation of the new funding should be more closely linked to production in Europe, but EU regulations are still expected on this.
More cheap cars expected
According to Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (49), the new purchase bonus for electric cars will also help the German car industry. “This is a strong boost for electromobility in Germany,” said the SPD politician. “And it is a boost for our domestic automotive industry, which has strong electric cars on offer.”
Last year, around 80 percent of the in Germany Newly registered electric cars and plug-in hybrids from European production, said Schneider.
The top ten newly registered electric vehicle models also showed how strong the German auto industry is, said the minister. “More and cheaper models from German manufacturers will come onto the market this year.”
More on the topic
According to figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority, the eleven most frequently newly registered pure electric cars last year came from the VW Group or the BMW-Group. Above all, VW’s ID.7 and ID.3. The situation is not quite as clear with plug-in hybrids, but here too seven of the ten most popular models come from BMW, Mercedes or the VW Group.