3 Electric car incentives you need to know in Europe

As we're approaching the end of 2018, you've only got a few months left to take advantage of the biggest incentives you can claim for your (first) electric car! We've listed the three biggest incentives per country here.

Latest update: August 2018

Belgium

Though not much of an early adopter, Belgium is catching up rapidly. In 2016, the number of electric-car sales in Belgium almost tripled, and the number of charging points grew by 350% as compared to 2015.

• Purchase grant: €4.000 grant in Flanders for private car owners. (More details)
• Ownership tax: Fully electric vehicles are exempt from any ownership taxes in Flanders. The other two regions (Walloon and Brussels) pay a total of €138,85 ownership taxes. (More details)
• Company car tax: 120% for fully-electric vehicles (starting 2020—100%), and 100% for plug-in hybrid vehicles emitting between 1 and 60 g/km of CO2 deductible from company expenses. Above 60 g/km, the deductibility rate decreases from 90% to 50%. (More details)

Living in Belgium? You can find the most public charging locations in Antwerp, Brussels & Ghent. Prefer charging at home or at work? We do too. Request a charging point here.

France

France made tremendous gains in electric-car numbers over the past few years. Going from less than 10,000 registered electric vehicles in 2012, to over 115,000 in 2017.

• Purchase grant: If you buy a fully-electric car in France, you’re eligible for a €6.000 "thank you for saving the earth" grant. If you swap your old diesel car (older than 2001) or your old gasoline car (older than 1997), you’re eligible for a €2.500 “thank-you for switching to electric” grant. This means that in total, you can get €8.500 off of your purchase! For a plug-in hybrid, you're eligible to receive a €1.000 grant. (More details)
• Registration tax: Both fully-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are eligible for either a 50% discount or are fully exempt from paying the license plate registration (carte grise) depending on the region. (More details)
• Company car tax: Fully-electric vehicles are exempt from this tax. (More details)

Living in France? Your best bet on finding a public charging point is in the Southwest of France. Prefer charging at home or at work? We do too. Request a charging point here.

UK

The UK government pledged a £290m sum to boost the industry of low emission vehicles. £80m of this amount is dedicated to improving charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

• Purchase grant: The Plug-In Car Grant covers 35% of the cost of a car (up to a maximum of £4,500 depending on the model) and 20% of the cost of a van, up to a maximum of £8,000. This is without doubt the important incentive for private vehicles in the UK. In some cases, it can reduce the total cost of electric vehicles below the cost of conventional cars! (More details)
• Ownership tax: Fully-electric vehicles costing less than £40,000 are exempt from the annual road tax. (More details)
• Company car tax: (Plug-in) electric vehicles emitting less than 50g/km of CO2 have their company car tax set at only 9% for 2017-18. 13% in 2018-19, and 16% in 2019-20. The tax on any diesel company car is 4-8% higher. (More details)

Living in the UK? Most of the public charging points are located in Glasgow and North East. Prefer charging at home or at work? We do too. Get up to 75% off of the installation of your charging point at home or at the workplace with the OLEV grant. This equates up to £500 (incl. VAT) per household / eligible vehicle! Request a charging point here.

Germany

Home to the most beloved combustion engine car manufacturers, German has been the slowest of the bunch in pushing pro-electric plans. But as of last year, Germany has adopted an incentive and investment program to encourage a switch to plug-in hybrids. Additionally, it has approved a push for a Europe-wide ban on combustion engine vehicles by 2030.

• Purchase grant: €4,000 for fully-electric vehicles and €3,000 euros for plug-in hybrids. The grant applies only to cars up to a maximum list price of €60,000. (More details)
• Ownership tax: 10 year exemption for fully-electric vehicles registered between 2011 and 2020. PHEVs pay the tax, which is lowered in proportion to their lower CO2.
• Company car tax: 0.5% over the discounted car (battery) price for both fully-electrics and plug-in hybrids. In addition, there's a €250/kW (up to €7.500) discount on the list price for fully-electrics and plug-in hybrids in 2018. (More details) Keep in mind that in reality, this is not a tax, but a flat-rate correction based on the decreasing list prices of electric cars in the next years—all to ensure a fair competition in the German car market. The correction will be a €50 decrease every year. This means by 2022, you'll ge a €50/kW (up to €5,500) discount on the list price. (More details)

Living in Germany? Stuttgart is your best bet in finding a public charging points! Prefer charging at home or at work? We do too. Request a charging point here.

Norway

Norway’s original goal was to have 100,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2020. As of last year, Norway has already exceeded this number, as there are now more than 121,000 electric vehicles on the Norwegian roads. Quite impressive for its relatively small population of just 6 million.

• Purchase tax: No purchase tax and no VAT on purchase. (More details)
• Ownership tax: NOK 455 is the annual road tax for both fully-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, as opposed to NOK 2.820 for petrol and NOK 3.290 for diesel cars. (More details)
• Company car tax: 50% discount for both fully-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. (More details)

Living in Norway? The most public charging points are located in Bergen and Oslo. Prefer charging at home or at work? We do too. Request a charging point here.

The Netherlands

The Netherlands is planning to phase out all internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035. The Netherlands has
 the highest ratio between public charging points and electric vehicles. 47% of Dutch drivers often or always charge at work.

• Purchase tax: Fully-electric vehicles and PHEVs are both exempt from this tax. PHEVs will need to pay additional fees based on the CO2 emitted. (More details)
• Ownership tax: Fully-electric vehicles are exempt from this tax, while PHEVs get a 50% discount. High CO2 emitting vehicles of +12 years old, will need to pay another 15% on top of the tax starting 2019. (More details)
• Company car tax: 4% for fully-electric vehicles only, 22% for both PHEVs and high CO₂emitting vehicles. (More details)

Driving in the Netherlands? Public charging points are all over the place! Most of them are located in Amsterdam and Utrecht. Prefer charging at home or at work? We do too. Request a charging point here.

Sweden

Sweden is investing heavily in charging infrastructure and the promotion of sustainable vehicles. Take a look below to see how you can navigate the Swedish incentives jungle.

‘Super environment-friendly car’ Grant was replaced On July 1, 2018, by a ‘bonus malus-system,’ where environmentally friendly vehicles with relatively low emissions of max 60g CO₂/km are eligible for a grant. Every vehicle can get a premium worth up to 60,000 SEK (approx. 6,000 euros) and is given to both individuals and businesses. The bonus is given at a maximum of 25% of the cars (new) purchase price. You can calculate your bonus here.

’Klimatklivet’ is an investment incentive for local and regional projects which aim to reduce CO₂ emissions. All types of organizations, companies, municipalities, foundations and associations such as housing associations can seek investment support from ‘Klimatklivet’ for charging stations. The grant covers up to 50 % of the investment and is divided per two categories; not publicly built on an individual parking lot and publicly available to the public. The grant is given four times a year. Find the application periods here. ‘Klimatklivet’ is exclusively designed for businesses and public associations. For individuals, there's the ‘Charge at Home’ incentive instead.

’Charge at Home’ Incentive is granted to individuals who own a private property with ‘a right to use’, meaning that you have the right to install a station. The grant can be given up to six months after the station is installed and covers 50% of the cost of the charging station and installation. Please note that each contribution is limited to 10.000 SEK per property.

Living in Sweden? Your best bet for finding a public charging point is in Stockholm, Skåne, and Västra Götaland. Prefer charging at home or at work? We do too. Request a charging point here.

Excited? There are plenty of perks too.

The incentives listed in this article are defined by each country’s leading government and are always implemented nationwide. Many cities though, go a step further to get their citizens behind the electric wheel. This means that on top of your usual financial incentives, your electric car may be eligible for extra perks, depending on the city you live in or drive by:

• Free public parking
• Exemption from toll charges
• Access to HOV lanes and bus lanes
• Exemption from ferry fees
• Free charging on public charging points

You get a car. And you get a car. Everybody, go get an electric car!

Sources:
EAFO / OLEV UK Government Grant / Eurostat Statistics Explained / Norwegian EV association / ICCT / RVO / EV Norway

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