Under ministry’s National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (Nationaler Aktionsplan Energieeffizienz – NAPE) 50% of the purchase price of commercial EVs will be allowed to be written off in the year of purchase. 

The measures, announced as part of a programme that will also see building renovation, are intended to help Germany reach the government’s climate target of reducing CO2 emissions by 40% from 1990 levels until 2020.

The move has been greeted by the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK). President Volker Lange said: ‘I applaud the proposed special depreciation for company cars with electric drive trains. It is a welcome complement to the planned law on electric mobility. However, in order to reach the goal set by the federal government of having one million electric vehicles on Germany's roads by 2020, additional efficient purchase incentives, which reduce the price difference to vehicles with conventional drive trains and extends also to private buyers, must be introduced as soon as possible.’

The VDIK added that an efficient charging infrastructure offering not only the conventional charging options, but also a non-discriminatory quick-charging option for all electric vehicles from national and international manufacturers, must be set up. It added that is unacceptable that a large percentage of the electric vehicles registered today are excluded from the planned quick-charging infrastructure.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s federal cabinet is expected to sign off on the action plan at the beginning of December.