BMW i3 Sales Surge with Germany’s new Electric Cars Subsidy

The government of Germany announced earlier this year that it is subsidizing the purchase plug-in hybrid or electric car models. This incentive is already affecting the sales of BMW’s i3. As of recent reports, the surge of applicants for the discount has reached almost 2,000 buyer requests. One third of this number consists of BMW customers.

This incentive is similar to what other European countries offer. The ultimate goal is to encourage people to be more environmentally cautious in purchasing vehicles. Electric and hybrid cars are becoming more popular in Germany.

The discount is pretty good, which can explain the surge. There’s a 4,000 euro discount given for people who purchase electric vehicles and for plug-in hybrid vehicle purchases, a discount of 3,000 euros is granted.

To be specific, out of 1,791 buyer applications, 581 were buyers of BMW models. The BAFA economic affairs and export control agency confirms that these are BMW i3 purchases. Renault models have 444 applications while Volkswagen models, 154.

The total euro cost of the incentives is 1.2 billion and this is being shared equally between the German government and carmakers. The goal is to sell around 400,000 electric cars in Germany, one of Europe’s biggest car markets.