Fifteen European countries have incentives to purchase electric cars

A total of fifteen European Union countries, including Spain, have launched various initiatives to encourage the purchase of electric cars, according to a report from the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA), which had access to Europa Press.

The incentives, for both national and regional governments are mainly related to tax exemptions or reductions, as well as direct payments for the purchase of such vehicles.

The EU countries that have these incentives for the purchase of electric cars are Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the UK.

European employers automakers welcomed the implementation of these incentives, which have as their ultimate goal to contribute to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from cars.

But he warned that the environmental performance of these initiatives may be affected negatively by the variety of incentive systems in different countries. "The European car industry urges EU governments to harmonize tax exemption schemes," he added.

Acea advocates a linear system, where every gram of CO2 cost the same from a tax standpoint. "Incentive systems for car purchase should not include or exclude specific technology, and their budgetary impact should be neutral," the organization concluded.