Features
2 Mar 21

Overview of incentives for EV charging in Europe

Electric vehicle charging incentives are available across Europe for both residential and commercial charging. The installation of residential and commercial charging stations is key to establishing infrastructure that can support the adoption of electric vehicles by individuals and companies across Europe. Koen Noyens, Director of EU Policy at EVBox Group provided us with this overview.

In this guide, we’ve split electric vehicle charging incentives into two categories: residential charging incentives and commercial charging incentives.

Residential charging incentives accommodate private residents looking to install charging stations at their homes, as well as owners and tenants of multi-unit buildings (e.g., condominiums). Generally, the charging stations installed with the help of these incentives are only for private use.

Commercial charging incentives apply to companies and public entities wishing to provide electric vehicle charging as a dedicated service (e.g., a municipality), additional service (e.g., supermarket car parks), or as a perk for employees (e.g., workplace charging).

Austria

In 2019 Austria launched the electric vehicle charging initiative E-mobility 2019 + Offensive. The initiative is valid until December 31, 2021, and includes a massive increase in federal funding for electric vehicles, residential charging infrastructure, and commercial charging infrastructure.

Commercial charging incentives

  • A subsidy of up to €30,000 is available to companies and public entities for the purchase and installation of DC charging stations designed to accommodate heavy goods vehicles.
  • A subsidy of between €300 and €15,000 is available to companies for the purchase and installation of publicly accessible charging stations.

Residential charging incentives

  • A subsidy of €600 for the purchase and installation of domestic charging stations is available for residents for single or two-family dwellings.
  • A subsidy of €900 is available for the purchase and installation of an OCPP-compliant station to residents of multi-unit dwellings for a single-use installation.
  • A subsidy of €1800 is available for the purchase and installation of an OCPP-compliant station to individuals as part of a multi-use installation.
  • Further information for each of the three residential charging incentives can be found on the Austrian government's site.

Belgium

In Belgium, the purchasing and installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure for commercial use is incentivized through tax returns and tax exemptions. There are currently no initiatives dedicated to residential charging.

Commercial charging incentives

  • A tax exemption applies to private companies located in the Brussels-Capital Region on taxes levied on companies for each visitor or staff parking space (€5 per M2) tax if their parking spaces are fitted with charging stations.

Denmark

To incentivise the use of electric vehicles, Denmark offers tax reductions on the electricity used to power commercial electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Currently, there are no incentives for the purchasing and installation of charging infrastructure.

Commercial charging incentives

A tax reduction of around 1DKK (€0.13) per kWh applies to companies that provide electric vehicle charging on a commercial basis.

Finland

Finland offers incentives for both commercial and residential electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the form of subsidies. Helsinki has invested €4.8 million in public charging stations in the last few years—almost tripling the total number of charging ports in the country.

Recently, the Finnish government announced a €5.5 million budget for expanding charging infrastructure during 2020 and 2021.

Commercial charging incentives

  • refund of up to 35 percent of the total purchasing and installation costs for charging infrastructure is available to companies that provide charging and use electric vehicles.

Residential charging incentives

  • refund of up to 35 percent (up to €90,000) of the total purchasing and installation costs for charging infrastructure is available to housing organisations that provide charging infrastructure for private use.
  • tax return of up to €300 is available to residents that install electric vehicle charging stations at their homes.
  • subsidy for up to 40 percent of the cost of purchasing and installing charging infrastructure is available for condominiums.

France

In a bid to boost electric vehicle adoption rates, France has recently set a new target of having over 100,000 publicly accessible charging stations by 2021. To help reach this target, €1.3 billion has been allocated to help fund several incentives that include grants and subsidies for the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Commercial charging incentives

  • There are various commercial charging incentives covered by the ADVENIR programmeThis programme aims to encourage the installation of 100,000 accessible charging ports in France by end of 2021.

Residential charging incentives

  • tax credit up to the value of €300 is available to residents for the purchase and installation of an electric vehicle charging station.
  • grant covering up to 50 percent of the purchasing and installation costs of collective charging infrastructure is available to co-owners of condominiums. However, this is only applicable to the first 3000 condominiums that request the grant.

Germany

In 2020, Germany committed to significantly improving its support for consumers purchasing electric vehicles in order to meet its target of having one million charging stations and 10 million electric vehicles by 2030.

This support equates to both national and regional incentives in the form of tax reductions and grants for both residential and commercial infrastructure.

National commercial charging incentives

  • Individuals who drive company cars and charge them at home can benefit from a tax reduction that can be applied for during annual tax return calculations.
  • Another tax exemption is also available to employees that charge their company car or private electric vehicle at work—the cost for charging at their employer's site is tax-free.
  • number of grants are available to offset the installation costs of publicly accessible charging stations and associated grid connection costs.

Regional commercial charging incentives

  • Companies in Berlin can apply for a grant that covers up to €2500 per AC charging station (up to 22 kW) bought or leased. Alternatively, up to €30,000 in funding can be applied for per DC fast charging station (22 kW and above).
  • Companies and public entities in Bavaria providing publicly accessible charging can apply for a grant that covers 60 percent of the costs associated with the charging stations, and a grant that covers 60 percent (up to €50,000) of grid connection charges. 
  • In Saxony-Anhalt, companies and public entities can apply for a number of grants. Specifically, up to 60 percent of total costs (or €3000) can be claimed back per charging station up to 22 kW, up to 60 percent (or €12,000) for charging stations up to 100kW, and up to 60 percent (or €30,000) for charging stations over 100 kW. Additionally, up to 60 percent of total costs can be claimed back for low voltage (€5000) and medium voltage (€50,000) connections.
  • In Thüringen, small and medium-sized companies, legal entities, and research institutions can apply for a number of different subsidies. Up to 75 percent (or €200,000) of investment costs for electric vehicles or charging infrastructure can be covered, though this is limited to €100,000 for freight transport companies. Another subsidy offers up to €15,000 for the purchasing and installation of regular speed charging stations, and up to €30,000 for DC fast charging stations. A third subsidy covers a fixed rate of up to €500 per kWh, as well as 75 percent of network connection expenses.

National residential charging incentives

Regional residential charging incentives

  • Private individuals in Limburg an der Lahn can apply for a grant that covers up to €300 for the purchasing and installation of a charging station at their home.
  • Private individuals of both single homes and condominiums in Hannover can apply for a grant if the electricity powering the charging station(s) is from a renewable source. Up to €500 per charging station can be claimed to cover purchasing and installation costs (up to five stations per condominium).
  • In Munich, private individuals, NGOs, and apartment owner associations can apply for a subsidy that covers up to 40 percent of the total net costs of a charging station. This equates to a maximum of €3000 per station with a power of 22 kW or less, or €10,000 for a fast charging station above 22 kW.

Greece

Currently, Greece only offers incentives for the purchasing and installation of residential charging stations. 

Residential charging

  • grant of up to €500 is available for private individuals looking to install a charging station at their place of residence.

Ireland

Between 2019 and 2020, Ireland allocated a total of €20 million toward incentivizing electric vehicle purchases. In addition to this, €3 million was allocated to the development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure to build upon the Climate Action Fund’s €10 million allocated for the development of a public charging network across the country. The Irish government also has residential charging incentives in place to help accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.

Residential charging incentives

  • grant that covers up to €600 of the purchasing and installation costs for a charging station is available to private individuals.

Italy

In 2019, Italy launched the Eco-Bonus program to provide subsidies for electric and hybrid vehicles, as well as electric vehicle charging infrastructure. €60 was dedicated to the program in 2019, with a further €70 million earmarked for the subsidies in 2020 and 2021.

The Eco-Bonus program aims to cut net emissions to zero by 2050 and mandates that electric vehicles should replace ICE vehicles by 2035 at the latest. A new bill has already been released to increase current incentives by 50 percent between August and December 2020 in a bid to stimulate economic recovery after numerous lockdowns in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Commercial charging incentives

  • Tax returns on up to €3000 for the purchasing and installation costs of charging stations are available to companies until December 2021.

Residential charging incentives

  • refund of 100 percent of the total costs of purchasing and installing electric vehicle charging stations in private homes is available to private individuals.

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, electric vehicle charging infrastructure incentives are mostly provided for private companies. However, residents in most regions can request the installation of a public charging port near their place of residence or work free of charge—this will also be freely accessible to all residents.

Commercial charging incentives

  • Deductions of up to 36 percent on costs associated with purchasing and installing charging stations are available to companies and public entities.
  • tax return of up to 75 percent of costs associated with purchasing and installing charging stations are available to companies and public entities.

Spain

In 2019, Spain launched its biggest electrification program, MOVES, with a budget of €45 million allocated to the promotion of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. In 2020, MOVES II was established to build upon previously established measures and is managed by local authorities.

Commercial charging incentives

  • grant covering between 30 and 40 percent of the purchasing and installation costs associated with publicly accessible charging stations is available to companies and public entities.

Sweden

In 2015, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and several administrative boards launched the Klimatklivet program in a bid to reduce CO2 emissions at a local and regional level. In 2020, the program was allocated 2.4 billion SEK (around €240 million) to help fund commercial and residential initiatives.

Commercial charging incentives

  • grant that covers 50 percent of the costs associated with the purchasing and installation of both private and public charging stations is available to companies and public entities.

Residential charging incentives

  • grant that covers 50 percent of purchasing and installation costs is available to private individuals who install a charging station at their home.

United Kingdom

The UK has developed a Road to Zero strategy aimed at making transportation in the four nations carbon-neutral by 2040.

Commercial charging incentives

Residential charging incentives

  • grant that covers up to 75 percent of the purchasing and installation costs of a charging station is available to private individuals.

Image copyright: EVBox