Commentary: Electric car funding must not degenerate into a Porsche premium

This year, the German taxpayer has subsidized 36 Porsche drivers. They have also contributed a few thousand euros for two Tesla Model X with falcon-wing doors, as well as for a BMW iX M70 xDrive – starting price from 126,500 euros – and an Audi S e-tron GT – starting from 126,000 euros. This is according to a current overview from the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA), which decides on yes or no for e-car funding.

Now one can say: the numbers are small. What's the debate about? However, politically they contain explosive material. Because actually, the subsidy is supposed to enable families and people with low incomes to purchase an e-car or a plug-in hybrid. This is also emphasized by the authority. The fact that individual citizens are reinterpreting the funding as a Porsche premium is severely damaging to the image of the program, about the design of which one can argue anyway.

There is the question of whether there even needs to be a premium. The growth of electromobility had already noticeably picked up in the previous year – after the short shock caused by the end of the last environmental bonus – as shown by the statistics of the responsible Federal Motor Transport Authority. So, why throw money into a market that is already growing again?