VW ID. 2all EV concept. Source: Volkswagen
A new social leasing programme should enable those in lower income brackets in Germany to participate in the transition to climate-friendly mobility, Isabel Cademartori, transport policy spokesperson for the Social Democrats’ (SPD) parliamentary group, told WirtschaftsWoche.
Under such a scheme, similar to one in place in France, a middle to low-income household could, for example, drive a small electric vehicle (EV) for 99 euros per month for three years, Cademartori said.
Germany’s new coalition government, formed by the conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the SPD, said it would introduce a support programme for low-income households to switch to e-mobility, financed through the EU Social Climate Fund.
EVs tend to be more expensive than combustion engine cars, meaning that for now they are mostly owned and driven by high-income groups.
Larger models and electric SUVs would be excluded from the social leasing programme, signalling to the market that there is demand for smaller models, Cademartori said.
Moreover, “de facto, only cars produced in the EU would be eligible,” she added. “We don’t want to give support to Chinese-made vehicles at great expense. It’s not about the brand, but about where the vehicles are produced.”
The price for carbon emissions in the transport sector is set to rise from 2027 onwards with the reform of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Some of the money from the scheme should flow back into a social fund to support the people most affected by this rising levy. “Social leasing is very well suited here because it enables people to switch from combustion engines,” Cademartori said.
The ramp-up of electromobility is key for finally reducing emissions in the transport sector, which have been flatlining for decades in Germany. A successful shift to electric mobility will also be crucial to secure the long-term survival of the country’s large automotive industry.
Clean Energy Wire. Reproduced with permission.
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What a top idea.
Help those homes with rising fuel costs.
Get them into safer vehicles.
New cheap to operate vehicles will also allow gigs to help with cashflow.
Gee, it's been a while since this website posted a Tesla hating article. Is Giles on leave?
Tesla is just one of the bunch these days.
What bs, & from the most untrustworthy car companies on the planet? (German collusion a couple of years ago, highest EU car fines on record). So they dress up concern for the ‘poor people’ by making Chinese cars too expensive via tariffs. Please …
Yeah.
Lucky for us that Australia would never stoop to such tactics to preserve our local jobs, industry, farms, ports etc etc.
There are essentially no tariffs on goods being imported to Australia so what's your point? Certainly no motor vehicle manufacturing industry to protect any more.
And that doesn't bother you?
The capitalist mantra is; compete or die. Bit hard if your opponent is 100 times bigger.
Politicians at election time spruik jobs, jobs, jobs; in the meantime allowing those jobs to be outsourced. Can't have it both ways. Australia is fast becoming a nation that depends on the handouts from tourists.
None of the ev charging stations in the outback are for locals.
Just offer a more affordable EV without all the responsible corporate citizens BS
Obviously, this is about corporate welfare as much as social welfare.