According to a local media report, Tesla has applied to the German government for subsidies for battery cell production and research in Germany. In return, Tesla could become part of one of the consortia that the Ministry of Economics wants to support.

In order to accelerate the switch to electric vehicles, London is doubling the scrapping premium for old vans with combustion engines to £7,000 (around 8,288 euros). Those who switch to an electric transporter even receive 9,500 pounds (approximately 11,248 euros) from the city.

Austria aims to decarbonise its transport sector. The coalition of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Greens want public authorities to exclusively purchase zero-emission vehicles as early as 2022 and otherwise focus on subsidies for the electrification of official fleets, taxis, rental cars, car-sharing, public transport as well as private cars.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed a bill to promote electric vehicles. The state calls for two million plug-in cars by 2035 and offers consumers rebates of up to $5,000. The ‘Light Duty Plug-in Electric Vehicle Rebate Program’ will run for ten years.

China will not make significant cuts in subsidies for electric cars this year. This was announced by Miao Wei, China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology.

The European Investment Bank is providing 27.5 million euros to finance the introduction of cleaner buses in Spain. Specifically, it will support the modernisation of Grupo Ruiz’s bus fleet through the purchase of 32 electric and 141 natural gas buses for public transport.

This year the Finnish government is providing 5.5 million euros to subsidise new charging points for electric cars. The funding is to be used to create more than 5,000 new charging points at housing estates.

The South Korean government will provide a total of 950 billion won (about 627 million euros) in 2020 to subsidise electric cars and expand the network of charging stations in the country, this signifies a 60 per cent increase from 2019.

The government of India has approved the establishment of 2,636 charging stations for electric vehicles throughout the country. The charging stations will be distributed to 62 cities in 24 states and Union territories.

Several US American states have launched initiatives to support the electrification of their traffic. Massachusetts and Delaware extended their subsidy programmes, while Ohio is angling to introduce one. California extended traffic benefits to include those driving used EVs.

The French government has revised its bonus-malus CO2 system with the aim of quintupling sales of electric vehicles by 2022 compared with 2017. To this end, new modalities for the environmental bonus will be introduced and the environmental penalty will be drastically increased.

A new US American spending bill includes the retroactive extension of tax credits for home EV charger installation, electric motorcycles, and fuel-cell vehicles. Previously, the credits had been extended through 2017, and have now been extended to 2020.

At the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has launched the ‘Global E-Mobility Program’ to help 17 developing countries initiate the use of electric vehicles on a large scale.

California is joining with seven other US American states to develop an action plan to put “hundreds of thousands” more emissions-free trucks and buses on roads and highways. The California Air Resources Board announced the initiative.

The European Commission has now approved funding totalling 3.2 billion euros for pan-European research and innovation projects by seven Member States in all segments of the battery value chain. Among others, Opel and BMW will benefit from the funds.

In August 2019, 6,672 electric vehicles drove on Polish roads, with a share of just 0.2%, Poland is at the bottom of the league in Central Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, or precisely because of this, the Polish government has set itself ambitious targets for e-mobility. But the new funding programme is controversial, as Aleksandra Fedorska reports.

The “Zero Emissions Roadmap 2028 2.0” for the Los Angeles area has just been presented. It outlines the way the city aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution by 25% by the 2028 Olympic Games. E-mobility plays an essential role.

The Slovak Ministry of Economy is starting a new round of subsidies for electrified vehicles in order to encourage individuals, businesses and government agencies to purchase electric vehicles. A total of 5 million euros has been earmarked for the programme.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is awarding grants for bus projects in the USA again. A total of 423 million dollars for 94 projects in 42 states – including many projects with electric buses and charging infrastructure.

The new European CO2 legislation for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles obliges the EU Commission to monitor real fuel and electrical energy consumption from next year onwards. This was pointed out by the ICCT.

California’s subsidies for electric cars and plug-in hybrids will change this December. Only electric vehicles up to a price of USD 60,000 will be eligible for the grant, except hydrogen cars. But this is not the only change.

The Chinese Ministry of Industry has now published detailed guidelines for setting up recycling facilities for batteries of electric cars. The new regulations are likely to pose major challenges for some electric car manufacturers.

The German government has passed the proposed law for the promotion of electromobility and the amendment of further tax regulations. Among other things, this concerns the taxation of electric company cars and the tax exemption for charging cars free of charge at the workplace.

At the “car summit” held at the Chancellery in Berlin, the German federal government and industry representatives have agreed on measures to boost electric cars sales. Purchase premiums and the number of charging stations will increase, while some questions remain unanswered.

The Catalan regional government is about to introduce a carbon tax on cars, vans and motorcycles. Catalonia will thus be the first region in Spain to ask owners of climate-harming vehicles to pay. Taxation is to come in retroactively for 2019 already.

The Bristol City Council has proposed a ban for all diesel vehicles from their city centre, as well as a new congestion charge zone for older commercial vehicles by 2021. This would make the city the first in the UK with an outright ban on diesel.

The Brussels regional government in Belgium is banning diesel vehicles from 2030 and petrol vehicles from 2035. Meanwhile, the Flemish Region of Belgium has announced that it will discontinue its subsidy programme for electric vehicles from January 2020.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader of the U.S. Senate faction, has presented a $454BN ten-year plan to get combustion vehicles off the country’s roads and to aid the US manufacture and sale of electric vehicles.

The British government has launched an official consultation on the introduction of green number plates for electric cars. This should make it easier for local authorities to issue special regulations for electric cars.

The Federal Ministry of Transport is supporting hydrogen mobility with a further 23.5 million euros as part of the National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP).