Tesla, Mercedes, VW, Stellantis will compensate customers for losing German subsidies

19 December 2023

Over the weekend, the German government - in stark contrast to what the French neighbors are doing - decided to abruptly stop its EV subsidy program. And we do mean abruptly - the announcement was made on December 16 and the halt went into effect on December 17, the date from which the German government isn't accepting any new applications for the subsidy.

Luckily for would-be EV owners, Tesla, VW, Mercedes, and Stellantis have decided, in various ways, to foot the bill themselves. They were already contributing $2,410 to the subsidy, since that was the manufacturer's share, but now they are also adding what used to be the government's share: up to $4,800 on top of that to make EV ownership more enticing.

Tesla's statement is above. It's already started to foot the bill for cars ordered starting on December 18 and delivered by December 31. There's no guidance on what happens for cars delivered next year, though, so presumably on January 1 the brand will end all of the subsidies.

In the meantime, Mercedes issued a press release saying it will continue to pay its manufacturer's share of $2,410 for orders made up to and until December 31.

On top of that, for deliveries and registrations between December 18 and December 31, it will also foot the bill for the government's share. For orders delivered in 2024 and those made from January 1, 2024, the company will pay the manufacturer's share only, "on the basis of the subsidy originally planned for 2024".

VW, on the other hand, told Reuters it will pay all of the subsidy itself (up to $7,240, both the manufacturer's share and the government's share) for cars ordered before December 15 and delivered and registered this year.

The VW EVs registered between January 1 and March 31 will receive $4,800, which is in line with the reduced subsidy that was planned for 2024 before it was scrapped by the government entirely.

Stellantis will also cover the full subsidy for all of its brands until December 31, and will offer a reduced subsidy for customers who register their vehicles by February 29.

It will be interesting to see what effect the ending of government subsidies will have on EV sales in Germany in the near future - was the growth so far driven primarily by those subsidies or was it more organic in nature? We'll let you know when we find out.