Consumers in Europe now have the opportunity to get their hands on an electric car at a price lower than a typical mobile phone bill. All thanks to new generous state subsidies for the purchase of an electric car. To be more precise, such an effect comes out when a subsidy is combined with leasing.
In the two largest economies of the European Union - Germany and France - there is now a boom in demand for electric vehicles, as the governments of these countries, in order to stimulate the car market, have significantly increased national subsidies for the purchase of cars of this type.
In Germany, buyers of electric vehicles from the state budget are now provided with €9,000, in France the amount is slightly less – €7,000. These are some of the most favorable support conditions in the world, notes BloombergNEF.
The subsidy, in some cases, almost completely covers the leasing fees for an electric vehicle. For example, Autohaus Koenig - one of the largest dealer networks in Germany - offers an electric Renault Zoe on terms of 59 euros / month for two years, all other payments are covered by a subsidy. In the 20 days that have passed since the offer was posted on the Internet, more than 3,000 people responded to it, about 300 have already signed contracts, Bloomberg writes.
“We do not have enough managers, otherwise we would have sold even more cars. We expected sales to rise with the introduction of increased subsidies, but this hype really hit us, ”Wolfgang Huber, head of one of the Berlin electric vehicle sales centers, is quoted by the news agency.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron introduced increased subsidies with a simple argument - the European car market is recovering too slowly after the "coronavirus" crisis. Sales in the EU have indeed been sluggish, forcing policy makers to inject more funds to support key sources of employment and economic activity.
The German auto trading website Carfellows reported that with the introduction of a state subsidy of 9,000 euros, sales of electric vehicles increased 10 times. In France, demand for the most popular Renault Zoe electric car is expected to double compared to 2019.
Carfellows offers to lease the Smart EQ electric city car at a rate of 9.9 euros per month, with a government-covered down payment and part of the payments. The offer had to be put on hold in June after about 1,000 people responded in three days, leading Daimler AG to tell the firm that it would not be able to ship vehicles at such a high rate. Under the same conditions, but at a rate of 59 euros per month, you can still buy a Renault Zoe electric car in Germany. In France itself, this model is offered for 79 euros per month.
However, experts interviewed by Bloomberg warn governments against such high subsidies, as they will inevitably lead to the collapse of the car market in the event that budget limits are exhausted.
In Germany and France, an electric car can now be taken for pennies
