According to Traffic Light’s will, car-sharing should be largely climate-neutral by 2026. Stationary car-sharing fleets may consist only of climate-neutral vehicles. Criticism comes from suppliers.
Bernd Sluka, member of the Passau Electric Car Sharing Association, criticized this as brazen, referring to a recent decision by the union commission. While the total phase-out of combustion engines will only apply from 2030, new car-sharing vehicles should be climate-neutral four years earlier, according to the Traffic Light Party’s decision.
Currently, 20% of car-sharing vehicles are electric. That’s much higher than its share of the nation’s total passenger car fleet: just under four percent. However, from 2026 onwards, it will hardly be economically viable for small car-sharing providers such as Passauer Verein to simply buy climate-neutral vehicles, Sluka said.
Bernd Sluka and Boris Burkert bought an electric car for their Passau car-sharing club.
What does the federal government fund?
Eleven years ago, he founded the Passau car-sharing association together with his colleague Boris Burkert. They now volunteer to operate nine vehicles, including one electric car since last year. Buying it was a challenge in many ways: the charging station alone cost almost 10,000 euros.
They received federal funding for cars and charging infrastructure, but that program has now expired. A sequel isn’t in sight yet, but they desperately need it, Burkert said.
Upon request, the Federal Ministry of Transport mentioned a 14 million euro funding scheme for electric vehicles. Subsidies can be applied for here until May 8. However, Sluka complained that the application had little chance of success for her. Because companies that want to convert at scale — that is, apply for funding for multiple vehicles — have priority.
discussions with municipalities
He criticized that small car-sharing clubs that still mainly use internal combustion engines are likely to run out of money, such as only wanting to buy one or two electric cars. It was also a challenge for them to obtain a minimum grant of more than 15,000 euros.
Markus Büchler, mobility policy spokesman for the Greens in the Bavarian state parliament, also advocates for funding, but unlike Sluka, who sees the federal government not as primarily responsible, but the state of Bavaria. Currently only public charging stations are subsidized, but that expires in 2024.
Büchler is confident that a solution can be found after consultation with suppliers and local authorities. North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, was a pioneer. There, the state covers up to 40 percent of the cost of new charging infrastructure for shared cars, and electric cars receive a subsidy of 8,000 euros.
Contribution may increase significantly
Because in addition to environmental considerations, cost reduction is also the reason why many people switch from owning cars to sharing cars; the same is true for Francois Weinert. He joined the Passau club a few years ago when he sold his car.
As a photographer, he travels a lot; he’s happy to have a parking space in front of his office, saving him the hassle of finding one in a busy city center. He currently pays €80 per year for membership, plus €2.40 per hour and kilometers driven.
But it wouldn’t have stayed so cheap without subsidies. Without any subsidies from the federal or state governments, small, nonprofit associations would have to significantly increase their contributions. Sluka criticized that if you’re trying to convince other people to switch to car-sharing, it’s counterproductive.