Grant for purchase of electric cars proved popular, admission period for applications ends on 07 August

Interest by the buyers of electric cars towards the purchase grant provided within the framework of the Estonian Electromobility Programme has significantly increased over the past few months; due to the exhausting of funds, KredEx will stop accepting new applications starting from 07 August.

If so far, about 40 applications have been submitted each month for the purchase of an electric car, then July saw 107 applications and in the first six days of August, as many as 80 have been submitted already. Applications will be inspected in the order in which they were submitted, and applications that meet the requirements will be satisfied until the funds run out.

According to Anne Sulling, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Entrepreneurship, who has been engaged in the sale of CO2 quotas, this interest by the applicants shows that the ELMO programme has been a success. “The grant for the purchase of electric cars has really justified itself. The initial strong suspicion towards electric cars has disappeared and the people of Estonia dare to use electric cars both in the cold winter and hot summer,” Sulling said. According to her, the quick charging network established all across Estonia has created good preconditions for the even wider scope of use of electric cars, including in entrepreneurship.

Plans are being made for supporting the introduction of electric cars with non-monetary measures in the future. For example, amendments to the Traffic Act are being planned, for allowing electric cars to drive on public transport lanes. Minister Anne Sulling said that this encourages the use of electric cars in city traffic and reduces the level of emissions in congested areas.

From 2011 to 2014, KredEx has allocated grants in the total amount of EUR 10.5 million; the average grant per car is EUR 16,500. The grant for the purchase of electric cars has helped put more than 650 electric cars on Estonia’s roads. The most popular electric car is the Nissan Leaf, with 370 purchased with the aid of the grant.

The grant for the purchase of electric cars was funded from the financial resources earned from the sale of CO2 quotas pursuant to a contract signed between the Republic of Estonia and Mitsubishi Corporation. With the same transaction, a country-wide quick charging network was established, the 507 electric cars received from Mitsubishi were given to the use of social workers and the public sector, the ELMO rental service was launched, and the electric car demo centre was opened at the AHHAA Centre in Tartu. These activities continue.