Surprise: electric car subsidies largely benefit ‘rich’ Tesla and Jaguar drivers

Tesla model X [image credit: IB Times]

H/T Climate Change Dispatch
No surprise at all, of course. The Dutch subsidy budget for electric cars is already in the red, so how they expect to go all-electric by 2030 is a mystery. High prices even with a subsidy, and concerns about batteries and range, have so far put off the majority of motorists anyway.

Around half the government fund to stimulate people to drive electric cars has ended up in the hands of ‘rich Tesla and Jaguar drivers’, the Volkskrant said on Wednesday.

Last year, the government said it would fund tax breaks totaling €700m for electric car drivers.

But almost half the 25,000 electric cars bought in the Netherlands in 2018 were Teslas and Jaguars with a price tag of €80,000 to €120,000, the paper said.

In particular, the sale of Teslas rose 260% last year.

The paper bases its claims on answers to MPs’ questions given by tax minister Menno Snel in parliament on Tuesday evening.

Prosecco

This means that CDA leader Sybrand Buma’s comments that ‘prosecco-drinking Tesla drivers’ have profited from the tax break at the ‘expense of the ordinary man in the street’ are largely true, the paper said.

It points out that the subsidies for electric cars are mainly funded by higher taxes paid by petrol and diesel car owners.

Read more here.