Following the implementation of plug-in electric vehicle subsidies in Germany, BMW i3 sales in the European country rose notably, according to recent reports.
To be more specific, deliveries from the middle of July onwards in Germany rose “many times over” according to the German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
Supposedly, around 1,000 of the 5,000 or so global orders for the newest model year of the BMW i3 were made in Germany, according to unnamed sources at BMW.
Autoblog, in its coverage, notes that “German consumers (now) get a $4,400 break on electric vehicles and a $3,300 discount on plug-in hybrids. All told, the program will be worth about $1.4 billion, and about half of that funding will come from the German automakers themselves. That program will also fund the deployment of as many as 15,000 vehicle-recharging stations, which should further spur demand for plug-in hybrids and EVs. The ultimate goal is to speed up plug-in vehicle adoption to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2009 goal to have 1 million EVs on Germany’s roads by 2020. Upon adoption of the government initiative, Germany had accounted for about 30,000 electric vehicles, implying that the country was far off the pace needed to meet Merkel’s decade-end target.”
That’s a bit of an understatement, 2020 is after all now fewer than 4 years away. So, roughly 970,000 electric vehicle sales to go…. The new subsidies are certainly welcome, as is the electric vehicle charging station buildout, but without further action, the goal doesn’t seem particularly achievable.
Black is the hot color. Should be more solid colors offered.