Sweden eliminated battery-powered cars subsidies overnight

Sweden is among the countries where electric vehicles make up the largest share of total car sales. Specifically, last year they made up 46%. A larger percentage was only sold in Norway and Iceland. Another 25% of sales in Sweden belong to plug-in hybrid cars.

Until now, every buyer of a new car with emissions of less than 60 grams of carbon dioxide was entitled to a so-called climate bonus.₂ per kilometer. However, the new Swedish government surprisingly abolished this bonus overnight. The information was published on November 7 as of the next day. Only cars whose registration date is no later than November 8 of this year are eligible for the bonus. The bonus is paid up to six months after registration and the government has imposed further restrictions on it. Only cars with emissions less than 30g/km will be eligible. In conversion, the climate bonus is around 4,600 euros for electric cars, and 920 euros for plug-in hybrid cars.

The government justified the move by saying that the cost of owning and operating a car with a climate premium has become comparable to the cost of owning and operating a car with a petrol or diesel engine. “The state’s support for this launch is no longer justified,” the government said in a press release.

Sweden froze the payment of benefits last year, but for different reasons. The amount of SEK 3 billion (about 300 million euros) for year-round support was already used in August.