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Car buyers in Europe can now get their hands on a new electric vehicle with the logo for a value at the same previous charge as a cell phone contract. Thanks to the subsidies of the new beneficiaries, some are even free.
Buyers invaded virtual showrooms in Germany and France, the region’s two largest passenger car markets, after their national governments intensified incentives for electric cars to increase demand. Its acquisition subsidies are now among the world’s favorable highs, according to BloombergNEF.
State allows Autohaus Koenig, a chain of brokers with more than 50 locations in Germany, to announce a lease for the battery-powered Renault Zoe that is completely covered through subsidies. Within 20 days of the launch of the be offer, another 3,000 people asked and about 300 contracts signed.
“If we had more sellers, we would have sold even more,” said Wolfgang Huber, head of electric car sales at the Berlin dealership, who posted a message on Facebook asking consumers to be patient. “We expected an increase in sales with subsidies, but this race hit us.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron have sought to mitigate the blow of the coronavirus pandemic to the heavily affected automotive sector. Sales in Europe recovered more slowly in Europe than in China or North America, leading policy makers to turn to key employment and economic resources.
In France, Renault Zoe-style sales are about to double this year even though demand for petrol cars has increased. And in the Netherlands, where the city of Amsterdam banns non-electric cars from 2030, a 10 million euro fund ($11.4 million) was used for electric car purchases in just 8 days this month.
“Lately there are many attractive offers due to the accumulation of subsidies, which stimulates demand,” said BloombergNEF analyst Aleksandra O’Donovan. “The EU is looking to decarbonise transport, and the coronavirus crisis has allowed them to push this forward.”
German subsidies of just about 9,000 euros compatible with electric vehicles have increased sales of Carfellows, a German automotive website, tenfold.
“This is a golden moment for us,” said Rainer Westdoerp, spokesman for the Berlin-based startup, which will start offering Daimler AG’s battery-powered smart equalizer rentals on Wednesday for 9.90 euros according to the month.
Carfellows canceled a similar offer for the Smart style in June after about 1,000 consumers contacted within 3 days and the automaker was unable to get cars temporarily, Westdoerp said.
While the most productive offers, adding The Smart offer from Carfellows, are aimed at corporate car buyers due to benefits such as tax cuts and threats, according to individual drivers in Germany they can still rent an electric car on site for as little as 39 euros. month by month. In France, where the government has subsidies of more than 7,000 euros consistent with the automobile this year, consumers can hire the Zoe from 79 euros consistent with month.
Buyers will want to read the fine print, as some offers come with one-time additional fees or upfront payments. And everyone in Europe is making more efforts to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, as the UK and Belgium have recently cut back their aid. China had planned to end its subsidies this year, but extended them until 2022 in reaction to the pandemic.
But overall, the symbol seems exciting for European buyers, as the continent is home to 8 of the nine countries with the highest national procurement subsidies, according to BNEF.
Governments will have to weigh carefully by letting those subsidies run out to prevent sales from falling off a cliff. But there will come a time when it may no longer be a challenge,” O’Donovan said.
“The drop in battery costs suggests that electric cars will be less expensive to buy than gasoline cars starting in the mid-2020s,” he said. “Once that happens, the market will increase even without subsidies.”