The federal government apparently wants to increase the e-car bonus by 917 million euros

The federal government wants to significantly expand support for the purchase of electric cars in the coming year. A total of 1.72 billion euros should be available for this in 2027. That is 917 million euros more than previously planned.

This emerges from an adjustment template from the Federal Ministry of Finance for the final budget discussions, which is available to the Reuters news agency. In the original government draft, only 803 million euros were earmarked for the funding program for 2027. This more than doubles the approach.

The federal government justifies the increase with the high demand. “The e-car funding is developing significantly more dynamically than was assumed in its conception and the original requirements planning,” says the template. The budget approach will therefore be adjusted to actual needs. However, the overall program volume remains unchanged.

Financing from climate funds, committee will discuss from Thursday

The additional expenses are to be financed from the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF). No further funding is planned beyond the total funding volume previously planned. The Bundestag's budget committee wants to decide on the final changes to the draft budget for 2027 at its adjustment meeting from Thursday.

The basis of the discussions is the submission from the Ministry of Finance. It lists the changes since the government draft was approved on 1,134 pages. The ministry sent the document to the budget committee on Monday evening.

Higher demand than forecast

Since May, the new purchase bonus has been intended to make it easier for low- and middle-income households in particular to switch to an electric car. The funding is socially staggered. According to government figures, the bonus had been paid out to 100,000 applicants by the beginning of October - far exceeding expectations.

Eligible purchases and leasing are new electric cars, certain plug-in hybrids that can run on both electricity and fuel, and electric cars with so-called range extenders - small combustion engines that increase the range of electric cars. The bonus only applies to private cars; company cars cannot be funded.

The prerequisite is that the vehicle has been registered since January 1st of this year. The amount of the government subsidy depends on the type of vehicle, taxable income and family size. The bonus can be up to 6,000 euros.