Well, that was the week for me. The government made € 10 million available for individuals who want to buy an electric car. If it remains below € 45,000, you will receive € 4,000 back. Certainly not wrong and for many people the last push to purchase an EV was the idea. Business drivers already had a lot of advantage with their low addition and investment deduction, high time to also appeal to private individuals.
Now, on these pages as well as during media appearances, and even in The Hague, I have repeatedly argued to the responsible MPs that private individuals have long had a significant advantage. For example, electric cars are bpm-free (saves € 5,000 just € 5,000 to € 10,000) and you will not pay road tax until 2025. In addition, your consumption costs are very low. Certainly electricity charged at home is much cheaper per kilometer than petrol, an advantage that a lease driver with a fuel card will not notice. That is why the tax credit for economical cars at the time was invented: low fuel costs did not hit the business driver enough. But now that it works the other way around, it suddenly doesn’t count. More discount, more subsidy, because people like to drive electric, according to research.
Is that correct in practice? Absolutely! When the scheme went into effect on July 1, anyone who had already ordered an EV in June that complied with the rules was allowed to apply for € 4,000. The result? Within a day half (!) Of the money was used up. That’s 1,250 new EVs. A week later, at the time of writing this column, we are at 90 percent. So it is with a certainty that the jar is empty when you read this. That equates to 2,500 EVs with a € 4,000 discount.
You could say that the scheme is therefore a great success, but in my opinion the opposite is true. If that € 4,000 is enough to win over so many people, it is far too much. Had you given half, would many people drop out? Or a quarter? With so much enthusiasm, the pot was still empty, but slower, so that with the same tax money you would have sold many more EVs. Including the discount that many brands also give in order to achieve their CO2 targets, electric cars are now again extremely over-subsidized. For example, in June and July, Renault gives a € 4,000 discount on a new Zoe, on top of the government subsidy. Total: € 8,000 discount and a free charge point for a car that is already bpm and mrb-free. Logical that it is rushing.
We have seen the mistake so many times: the Mitsubishi Outlander, the first Tesla Model S and now the small EV for the private individual. Fortunately, the government has learned one lesson: there is a pot of money and when it is used up, it is ready. That principle could have prevented a lot of Outlander misery. But why has tax money been reintroduced for cars that manufacturers have to sell to avoid CO2 fines?
Moreover, you now anger people who fish behind the net. Even if you are not yet without a chance: if you submit an application when the pot is empty, it will be passed on to next year. Then there is a new budget… Sinterklaas pays.
If € 4,000 is enough to win over so many people, it is far too much.
This column was previously published in Techzle 29. Missed that edition? No worries, here it can be reordered.