The municipal transport companies have shown the way – now the first private companies are following suit: They rely on electrically powered buses and people carriers. Some fleet companies and parcel services are already further along, and here too there are more and more electric vehicles in the fleets.
The main reason is not so much the fear that the first cities will soon redesignate their city areas as strict environmental zones with no entrance for combustion engines. Rather, some want to set an advertising signal to the outside world. The GHG premium of several hundred euros makes it easier for many companies to switch if a vehicle change is due anyway.
In general, applying for the bonus for the greenhouse gas quota for trucks and buses is the same as for a private car: simply select the service company, upload the vehicle registration document and data and wait for the confirmation and the transfer.
However, there is no fixed premium for buses and trucks, as there is for a car, because the Federal Environment Agency calculates the premium based on a variable estimated value, which the truck saves thanks to the electric drive.
The flat-rate values for trucks and buses in the M3 class with an unladen weight of more than twelve tons are significantly higher than for a privately or commercially used car. Depending on the provider, there are up to 15,000 euros for an electric switch – per year. The premium for light and medium-sized commercial vehicles in vehicle class N1 is correspondingly lower at around 500 euros, but it is still worthwhile for many tradespeople.
