Does the German government subsidise at the right point?
China, Britain or the U.S. - they give an ample subsidy, if you buy an EV.
Many governments offer high subsidies for purchase of on road electric vehicles because they seek a swift decline of CO2 and other emissions and of respirable dust / particulate matter. And an increasing number of countries fork out money to support the manufacture of such EVs through to their rapid adoption.
In the US, Americans get a tax credit worth up to €5,800 for the purchase of an EV. From 2011 on, Britons get nearly the same amount of money - in cash. In China it is more than €6,700. The list of countries is ongoing. In Austria - Germany's neighbour -you get both government aid and additional regional aids.
Germany is different
In Germany there is a 5 year remission of car taxes but they are low anyway and depend on the weight of the car. This means savings of 570 € compared to a normal compact car (VW Polo Bluemotion, which is already a very environmental car) after 5 years.
Car manufacturers such as VW and BMW profit from the EV subsidizations in China or the US. However, it is not expected that this will create thousands of new jobs in Germany. It should be noted that BMW announced cooperation in developing and producing of EVs in China.
Nonetheless - it should not be argued that the German government doesn't spend any money for alternative power trains. In the economic stimulus package II, €500 Million were budgeted for electric and hydrogen cars. Certainly this money is not for the citizens: it is for the car manufacturers and research institutes.
So should we really condemn Germany for its different approach? Guido Reinking, editor of the branch and business newspaper "Automobilwoche", says no! In his opinion, EVs are environmentally questionable: their CO2 balance is much worse than of many other modern vehicles with combustion engines. One has to distinguish between EVs which are only provided with energy from renewable sources and EVs that get there energy from coal power stations. In fact, the CO2 balance will get much worse if the energy for the EV is provided only by coal.
Taking China as a role model for EV subsidies in Germany would be questionable. On the one hand, the exhaust gas pollution in a Chinese metropolis would be much improved by using more and more EVs. But where does the power comes from? Almost exclusively from coal-burning power plants and these are mostly out of date. While German plants have an average efficiency of 38% and an emission of 969 CO2 per kWh, the Chinese plants have an efficiency of 23% and an emission of 1,600 CO2 per kWh. But this is not the final efficiency which drives the EV forward. Until then it is going to be continuously worsening. To drive an EV in Germany from renewable sources, the basics are already well understood but, according to the BEE (German Association Renewable Energies), the percentage of the total consumption of end-use energy that is renewable is only about 12.3% today though it could rise to 28.3% in 2020.
To draw a conclusion, maybe the German government's way of acting - to provide the technology for environmental electric power supply - is different, but it can be equally effective in leading to an EV future. That will include EVs for land, sea and air. Indeed, germany is already active in all three domains, an example being the PC-Aero pure electric sport plane announced this year.
Also attend: Future of Electric Vehicles which uniquely covers the whole electric vehicle market - land, sea, air whether hybrid or pure EV - with emphasis on future breakthroughs.
