Procedure descriptions
Apply for environmental bonus for electric vehicles
The environmental bonus or innovation premium promotes sales of new and young used electrically powered vehicles. It is also intended to ensure greater acceptance of electromobility in general. To receive it, you must apply for the environmental bonus at the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA).
Eligible vehicles are
- Purely electrically powered electric vehicles,
- fuel cell vehicles,
- externally chargeable hybrid electric vehicles (plug-in hybrids).
The environmental bonus is paid in equal parts by the federal government and the manufacturers. The increase in the bonus (innovation bonus) is paid by the federal government alone. At this point, we are only concerned with the federal government's share of the environmental bonus.
The amount of the environmental bonus or the subsidy rate depends on:
- Type of drive
- Type of purchase: purchase or leasing (or leasing period)
- Base price of the vehicle
- Minimum holding period
Environmental bonus for battery electric or fuel cell vehicles:
Federal share including innovation premium (net list price below EUR 40,000)
- Purchase: EUR 6,000 (minimum holding period 6 months)
- Leasing term 6 to 11 months: EUR 1,500 (minimum holding period 6 months)
- Leasing term 12 to 23 months: EUR 3,000 (minimum holding period 12 months)
- Leasing term over 23 months: EUR 6,000 (minimum holding period 24 months)
Federal share including innovation premium (net list price over EUR 40,000)
- Purchase: EUR 3,750 (minimum holding period 6 months)
- Leasing term 6 to 11 months: EUR 937.50 (minimum holding period 6 months)
- Leasing term 12 to 23 months: EUR 1,875 (minimum holding period 12 months)
- Leasing term over 23 months: EUR 3,750 (minimum holding period 24 months)
Environmental bonus for externally chargeable hybrid electric vehicles
Federal share including innovation bonus (net list price below EUR 40,000)
- Purchase: EUR 4,500 (minimum holding period 6 months)
- Leasing term 6 to 11 months: EUR 1,125 (minimum holding period 6 months)
- Leasing term 12 to 23 months: EUR 2,250 (minimum holding period 12 months)
- Leasing term over 23 months: EUR 4,500 (minimum holding period 24 months)
Federal share including innovation premium (net list price over EUR 40,000)
- Purchase: EUR 3,750 (minimum holding period 6 months)
- Leasing period 6 to 11 months: EUR 937.50 (minimum holding period 6 months)
- Leasing term 12 to 23 months: EUR 1,875 (minimum holding period 12 months)
- Leasing term over 23 months: EUR 3,750 (minimum holding period 24 months)
Details
Prerequisite
Eligible to apply for the environmental bonus are:
- Private individuals
- Companies
- Companies with municipal participation
- Foundations
- Corporations
- Associations
Not eligible to apply are
- the federal government and the federal states as well as their institutions and municipalities,
- all public institutions of the state that meet the definition of a public-sector customer within the meaning of the Act against Restraints of Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen),
- automobile manufacturers participating in the financing of the environmental bonus,
- applicants over whose assets insolvency proceedings have been filed or opened,
- applicants who have submitted a statement of assets and liabilities as a debtor within the meaning of the German Code of Civil Procedure or as a judgment debtor within the meaning of the German Fiscal Code or who are obliged to do so.
If the applicant is a legal entity, the same applies to the owner of the legal entity.
Eligibility requirements for new vehicles:
- The vehicle model must be on the list of eligible vehicles.
- It must be a new vehicle registered for the first time.
- Acquisition (entering into purchase or lease agreement) and first registration must have occurred on or after 5/18/2016.
- The vehicle must be registered domestically to the applicant.
- If purchased, it must remain registered for at least 6 months.
- For leasing, the minimum holding period varies between 6, 12, and 24 months depending on the length of the lease.
- If you apply for the federal share of the environmental bonus, the auto industry's share of the environmental bonus must already have been paid. BAFA determines this by comparing your purchase costs with the net list prices stored in BAFA.
Requirements for the subsidy for young used vehicles:
- The vehicle model must be on the list of eligible vehicles.
- The vehicle must have been first registered after Nov. 4, 2019 or later.
- The vehicle must have been first registered for a maximum of 12 months.
- The vehicle must have a maximum mileage of 15,000 kilometers at the time of registration to the secondary owner.
Further requirements can be found in the funding guidelines.
Procedure
Submit the application electronically using the online form on the portal of the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control:
- Complete the application form online and attach the necessary supporting documents.
- After submitting the application form, you have the option to save the PDF document (consisting of the application form and confirmation of truthful information).
- Print out the declaration of truthful information and upload it again, signed and scanned, via the upload portal.
- After submitting your application, you will receive an e-mail confirmation of receipt within a few minutes with your process number and the link to the upload portal.
- After a positive review, you will receive the notification of funding. The payment of the federal share of the environmental bonus will be credited to the account specified in the application form.
All further details on the procedure can be found in the funding guidelines.
Deadlines
- The application must be submitted no later than one year after registration of the vehicle.
- The application for collective applications is possible from 01.09.2020.
Required documents
- New vehicles
- for purchase: invoice
- For leasing:
- binding order
- leasing contract
- Calculation of the leasing rate
- Declaration of truthful information
- for young used electric vehicles:
- Proof of the list price of the new vehicle in the form of an expert opinion from Deutsche Automobil Treuhand (DAT) or a new vehicle invoice together with a mileage certificate
- Evidence package of used cars; have the declaration on the form "Evidence package of used cars" confirmed by an officially recognized expert or a test engineer or a publicly appointed and sworn expert, unless you have already had a DAT appraisal prepared.
- Declaration of truthful information
Sample documents can be found on the website of the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control on electromobility.
Costs
There are no fees to pay.
Processing time
The funding program is very popular. Unfortunately, this means that it takes a little longer to process applications. The processing time of an application also depends on whether we have all the documents for an application.
Release note
Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWi)