A few days ago, the German government agreed to a €130 billion COVID-19 economic recovery package.

A significant portion of that stimulus, about €8 billion, is earmarked for the automotive industry in Germany. Previously, President Emmanuel Macron announced a similar €8 billion COVID-19 support package for the automotive industry in France. Next in line is Spain, where a decision by the government about support for the automotive industry is expected any day.

The French and German programs include additional support for electric vehicles. In France, the purchase premium for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) will increase from €6,000 to €7,000 for vehicles with a purchase price of up to €45k. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) will be newly eligible for a purchase premium of €2,000. In Germany, the government subsidy for BEVs will double from €3,000 per vehicle to €6,000 for vehicles under €40k, and from €2,500 to €5,000 for vehicles costing between €40k and €65k. For PHEVs the government subsidy will also double from €2,250 to €4,500 for vehicles costing up to €40, and from €1,875 to €3,750 for vehicles between €40k and €65k. In addition, manufacturers remain obliged to pay an additional purchase premium of €2,500 to €3,000 for BEVs and €1,875-€2,250 for PHEVs.

The German government decided to send an even stronger signal for a quick transition to electric vehicles by not including any purchase premium for combustion engine vehicles. Furthermore, it decided to strengthen the CO2-based portion of the vehicle ownership tax. In France, on the other hand, buyers of a new or used combustion engine vehicle can benefit from a conversion premium. However, this subsidy in France is capped at €3,000, is only available for low-income households, and is and limited to a maximum of 200,000 vehicles with emissions below 137 gCO2/km (in WLTP-terms) that replace a vehicle that is at a minimum 9-years-old. Although this policy will have a negative effect on the French vehicle fleet CO2 emission level, as we explain here, this effect is likely to remain limited.

Read more: The ICCT

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The Tesla Model 3 is now the best-selling vehicle in California in all categories, as it already is in the arguably less representative market of the Netherlands.

The data is published by the California New Car Dealers Association, which is probably contemplating in despair how the best-selling vehicle is precisely one that does not get distributed through dealers. In short, Tesla’s achievement has been to make electric vehicles more desirable than their internal combustion competitors.

In case you hadn’t noticed, the automotive market is changing. GM is launching a new electric delivery van in a bid to prevent Tesla taking over that market the same way they did in the consumer segment, and announces plans to introduce at least 20 all-electric models in all categories by 2023. In the same sense, Amazon is working to add 100,000 Rivian all-electric vans to its delivery fleet.

Electric vehicles are no longer the preserve of the rich: China now produces models with starting prices of around $1,000 that you can buy through Alibaba. More and more manufacturers are accelerating their plans to try to position themselves in a market where it will take them at least several years to cast a shadow on Elon Musk’s company. But one thing is already clear: with much longer lifetimes and significantly cheaper maintenance costs, electric vehicles are changing the economic parameters of driving.

Read more: Forbes

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With oil prices at multi-year lows, conventional wisdom suggests an interest in electric vehicles (EVs) will wane. Perhaps surprisingly, the opposite is happening.

Whilst registrations for diesel and petrol vehicles have plunged in the UK year on year, registrations for electric vehicles have more than doubled in the midst of the global pandemic. Analysts don’t see the long-term trend toward the electrification of transport reversing. It isn’t only consumer demand driving EV sales.

One of the main reasons fossil fuel vehicles may have finally reached the end of the road is that the electrification of fleets is accelerating.

Why Now?

According to Bloomberg, “now we know that clear skies and silent streets can come about with shocking speed.” Up to 2.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions have been prevented due to recent lockdowns—a historic record—that has caused many people to envision a world without air and noise pollution. It’s also inspired many companies to push for a green recovery and spurred the UN to call on Governments to “Build Back Better.” Even before the current crisis, some of the biggest delivery fleets in the world were already thinking green. Last September, online retailing giant Amazon ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans from EV-maker Rivian, while UPS recently announced plans to invest in 20,000 electric trucks from UK’s Arrival. According to BloombergNEF (BNEF), by 2040, 56 per cent of light commercial and 31 per cent of medium commercial vehicle sales will be electric.

Read more: Fleet Point

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Erin Baker explains why she’s lucky to own a Nissan Leaf in lockdown, and shares what potential electric car buyers should look for.

We’re running a Nissan Leaf for six months and we’ve been so grateful for it since lockdown began. Here’s why electric cars make perfect sense right now.

1 – Easier to social distance

You don’t need to go near a fuel pump with an electric car, which means we haven’t had to worry about visiting fuel stations, and how to touch fuel pumps or interact with the public without risking contamination since lockdown began. Instead, the only charging we’ve done for two months has been at home, which feels much safer.

2 – Cheaper to refuel

Like many other households, we’ve lost a lot of our income since lockdown began. It’s been a relief, therefore, to know that we’re paying something like £12 for every 200 miles we drive, thanks to our electric-car domestic energy tariff, instead of about £30.

3 – Kinder to nature

The pandemic has brought us all a little closer to nature, whether we like it or not, and it seems to compliment the zeitgeist to be driving something with no nasty tailpipe emissions.

4 – No noise pollution

See above. With no loud rumble from the engine and exhaust, the only noise pollution comes from the whispering of the tyres and air. So we, and our neighbours, can still hear the enhanced birdsong when we start up in the morning.

5 – No range anxiety

Lockdown means fewer, more local journeys, so we’ve completely forgotten what range anxiety feels like, which is definitely the way forward. Not that we’ve had it very often – the Leaf is good for about 230 miles.

Read more: Autotrader

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So you’ve been thinking about making the switch to an electric car, but you’re still unsure whether the time is quite right. After all, the Government keeps on providing fiscal incentives to go electric, while seemingly clobbering drivers of petrol and diesel cars with taxes, so the financial case is already strong.

The thing is, are electric vehicles (EVs) good enough, is the charging infrastructure widespread enough, and do the financial incentives really offset the higher initial price of an electric car? With this advice guide, you can make an informed choice about whether or not the time is right for you to make the change.

• Electric cars are more expensive than conventional ones
• But a range of grants and subsidies are available
• Electricity is cheaper than petrol or diesel
• There are some very compelling tax breaks, too
• An EV could well save you money overall
• Driving an electric car is enjoyable
• They’re usually fast and very quiet
• Also very easy and relaxing to drive
• They usually come with lots of equipment and technology
• And obviously, they’re good for the environment

Low running costs/subsidies/grants

It’s true that electric cars are expensive to buy compared with petrol or diesel cars, but that’s not the full story. If you think about how much your car will cost overall during the lifetime of the car, then the reduced running costs could well make up that difference, and then some. The good news is that an electric car can save you cash in a wide variety of ways, and once you add them all up, the cumulative savings can be really compelling.

Obviously, the first saving you’re going to make is on fuel. An electric car might not be able to travel as far as a combustion-engined car when they are both fully filled/fully charged, but charging a car up with electricity is much cheaper than filling it with petrol or diesel.

How much cheaper? Well, that depends on a number of things. If you’re charging at home, what sort of electricity tariff are you on? Are you charging overnight or at peak time? Or, if you’re regularly relying on public chargers, what are you paying in terms of subscriptions to providers, and in terms of power costs? Also, how much charge can your electric car hold? The variables are numerous.

Read more: CarWow

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