Much is being done about the ‘Subsidy Scheme Electric Passenger Cars Private Individuals’ (SEPP). For this year, the subsidy for new EVs is even completely empty. As a result, State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven (I&W) received parliamentary questions. However, she sees no reason to lower the subsidy amount per car.
Due to the roll-over scheme, whereby subsidy applications that were not accepted in 2020 could still be awarded in 2021, the subsidy budget for new EVs was already used up in one day in 2021. The cabinet already ended this scheme at the end of last year, but that could not prevent a substantial bite from the total annual budget of € 14.4 million for 2021 having already been taken. On January 4 this year, the day the subsidy desk reopened, there was still room for only 277 cars (€ 1,108,000). After one day the subsidy counter was closed again and for the rest of this year it is no longer possible for private individuals to apply for a subsidy for a new EV. That led to a lot of criticism.
MPs Helma Lodders and Remco Dijkstra of the VVD, both no longer active in the House, asked the State Secretary whether the subsidy amount per car should not be adjusted downwards in order to be able to give more buyers of a new EV subsidy. However, the State Secretary does not agree with the reasoning that the set amount per car has been overestimated. “During the development of the subsidy scheme and the determination of the amount of the subsidy amounts, extensive consultation took place with the sector and the parties involved in the Climate Agreement,” she writes in the answer. She believes that a lower subsidy amount does not convince individuals. The State Secretary also states that the subsidy amount in the Netherlands (maximum € 4,000) is still lower than in Germany and France.
Do not lower before
Under the current scheme, the subsidy for new EVs will decrease gradually over the next five years, to € 2,550 in 2025, due to the expected fall in the price of electric vehicles. The total subsidy budget, on the other hand, is constantly increasing and will amount to € 41 million in 2025. The State Secretary says that at the moment he sees no reason to reduce the subsidy amount earlier, because that “is expected to be at the expense of the effectiveness of the scheme.”