EV Subsidy Germany 2026: up to €6,000 from BAFA
A battery electric car qualifies for €3,000 to €6,000, an eligible plug-in hybrid for €1,500 to €4,500. What you actually receive depends on your taxable household income and how many children you have. The full table below lets you read off your own amount.
By the CheckAlle Editorial Team · Last updated on
Key Takeaways
- Battery electric and fuel-cell cars: €3,000 to €6,000. Plug-in hybrids and range-extenders: €1,500 to €4,500.
- Leasing counts the same as buying. Almost half of all approved applications so far were leasing contracts.
- Your nationality does not matter. What counts is a main residence in Germany and the car being first registered here in your name.
- Income cap €80,000 taxable annual household income, plus €5,000 per eligible child, up to €90,000.
- Apply digitally via BundID at the Förderzentrale Deutschland portal, within twelve months of registration.
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EV Subsidy Germany 2026: the full grant table
The funding directive sets a fixed amount for each income band. Find your row and read the figure in the column that matches your family situation. What counts is the taxable income shown on your tax assessment, not your gross salary. That figure is usually a good deal lower than people expect, so it is worth checking before you rule yourself out.
Battery electric and fuel-cell vehicles
| Taxable annual household income | No child | 1 child | 2 or more children |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 45,000 € | 5,000 € | 5,500 € | 6,000 € |
| 45,001 to 60,000 € | 4,000 € | 4,500 € | 5,000 € |
| 60,001 to 80,000 € | 3,000 € | 3,500 € | 4,000 € |
| 80,001 to 85,000 € | not eligible | 3,500 € | 4,000 € |
| 85,001 to 90,000 € | not eligible | not eligible | 4,000 € |
| 90,001 € and above | not eligible | not eligible | not eligible |
Applies to first registrations from 1 January 2026 up to and including 31 December 2029.
Plug-in hybrids and range-extender vehicles
| Taxable annual household income | No child | 1 child | 2 or more children |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 45,000 € | 3,500 € | 4,000 € | 4,500 € |
| 45,001 to 60,000 € | 2,500 € | 3,000 € | 3,500 € |
| 60,001 to 80,000 € | 1,500 € | 2,000 € | 2,500 € |
| 80,001 to 85,000 € | not eligible | 2,000 € | 2,500 € |
| 85,001 to 90,000 € | not eligible | not eligible | 2,500 € |
| 90,001 € and above | not eligible | not eligible | not eligible |
Additional condition: no more than 60 g CO₂ per kilometre or at least 80 km of electric range on the EAER-City value. First registration must take place by 30 June 2027. Source: funding directive of 19 May 2026, section 6.
How the amount is built up
The base grant is €3,000 for a battery electric car and €1,500 for an eligible plug-in hybrid. Each eligible child adds €500, for a maximum of two children. If taxable household income is below €60,000, the grant rises by €1,000; below €45,000 it rises by another €1,000. So the full €6,000 goes to a household with two children and taxable income below €45,000.
Buying or leasing? Both are funded
The directive funds the purchase or the lease of a new vehicle, so leasing does not cost you the grant. In the official interim report dated 1 September 2026, of 52,473 approvals 26,491 were purchases and 25,982 were leases, almost exactly half.
- The registered keeper and the lessee do not have to be the same person.
- The 36-month minimum holding period still applies. A 24-month lease does not shorten it: the car must stay registered in your name for 36 months without interruption.
- Not funded: used cars, one-day registrations, factory registrations and demonstration vehicles. The car must never have been registered anywhere before.
- Also not funded: vehicles held as business assets. The car must be privately owned.
If the purchase or lease contract is unwound because of statutory warranty rights, that does not automatically trigger recovery of the grant. As long as an equivalent eligible replacement vehicle is registered within six months, the grant stands. The minimum holding period is then extended by the time between the unwinding and the new registration. The replacement must be reported to the authority without delay.
Who can claim the EV Subsidy Germany 2026?
- Adults with their main residence in Germany.
- Nationality is irrelevant. What matters is a main residence in Germany and that the car is first registered here in your name. People living abroad cannot apply.
- Students, trainees, pensioners and self-employed people can apply too. For the self-employed the car must be held privately, not as a business asset.
- Not eligible: companies, associations and municipalities, and anyone whose assets are subject to insolvency proceedings or who has filed a statement of assets.
- A household may file at most two applications, but each person only once.
How your taxable income is calculated
This is where most applications stall. The figure used is not one single year but the average of your two most recent income tax assessments, which may not be older than three calendar years. Later changes in income or status, such as retiring, do not affect a grant that has already been approved.
Household income combines your taxable income and that of your spouse or registered partner. The income of working children living in the household is not counted.
A warning for shared flats: where two adults share a main residence and are neither married nor in a registered partnership, BAFA presumes a marriage-like partnership and adds both incomes together. You can rebut that presumption with a self-declaration stating that you keep your finances permanently separate.
EV Subsidy Germany 2026: applying in four steps
1. Create a BundID account
The whole application runs through BundID. If you do not have an account yet, register at id.bund.de using your ID card or an ELSTER certificate.
2. Prepare your documents
Vehicle identification number, registration certificate part II, your two most recent income tax assessments and, if you have children, the child benefit confirmation from the Familienkasse.
3. File with BAFA
Complete the form on the Förderzentrale Deutschland portal, upload the documents and submit. You can only apply after first registration, and no later than twelve months afterwards.
4. Wait for payment
Applications are processed in the order in which complete files arrive. After a positive review BAFA transfers the grant to your account.
Documents from abroad need a certified translation
All documents must be submitted in German or as a German translation. The translation has to be produced by a state-certified or publicly appointed and sworn translator or interpreter. Your own translation will not be accepted. If you moved to Germany recently and do not yet have a German tax assessment, plan this step early, because it costs both time and money.
To finance the rest of the price, compare offers in our car loan guide for expats. The interest rate often decides whether the grant really ends up in your pocket. If you need money quickly, see the instant loan comparison as well.
How many people have received the grant so far?
BAFA publishes a monthly interim report. As at 1 September 2026 the figures were:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Approved applications | 52,473 |
| Funds paid out | €230 million |
| By drivetrain | 47,986 battery electric, 4,487 plug-in hybrid |
| By acquisition type | 26,491 purchase, 25,982 leasing |
| Income band up to €45,000 | 26,692 approvals |
| Households without an eligible child | 34,508 approvals |
That works out at roughly €4,380 per approval. More than half of all grants went to households with taxable income up to €45,000, which is what the social scaling is designed to do.
Source: BAFA, interim report on the EV subsidy, as at 1 September 2026.
What changed compared with the Umweltbonus
- No net list price cap. More expensive EVs qualify too, which was not the case under the old Umweltbonus.
- Income-based instead of flat rate. Lower earners receive more, and families receive an additional bonus.
- No BAFA vehicle list any more. In principle every class M1 model qualifies, provided it meets the technical conditions.
- Where you buy does not matter. What counts is that first registration happens in Germany on or after 1 January 2026.
- Fully digital. No paper application, everything runs through BundID and the federal funding portal.
There is no legal entitlement
The funding directive states explicitly that there is no legal entitlement to the grant and that approval depends on the availability of budgeted funds. If the funds are exhausted, the authority may declare a funding stop. The directive expires on 31 December 2029. If you meet the conditions, it is worth applying rather than waiting until the last month.
There is a second, tax-related benefit: under German motor vehicle tax law, battery electric vehicles first registered up to 31 December 2030 are exempt from the tax for ten years from the date of first registration, and at the latest until 31 December 2035. Registering in 2026 therefore does not cost you this benefit. Our article on the EV tax exemption in Germany explains the detail. This page is also available in German and in Turkish.
EV Subsidy Germany 2026: frequently asked questions
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