Despite the large R&D effort,
production subsidies and consumer incentives for EVs have been limited. This reflects a
generally less interventionist position of German governments, but it may also be due to more
pragmatic reasons since German carmakers have no electric vehicles on offer and a purchase
subsidy would use German taxpayers’ money to buy almost exclusively French and Japanese
cars. The National Electromobility Development plan has continuously underlined the relevance
of financial incentives, especially in the 2014-17 market ramp up phase and considering the goal
of 1 million EV vehicles by 2020.