Electromobility Act: Parliament signals approval for amendment

The Bundestag has approved the expansion and extension of the Electromobility Act (EmoG) until 2035, as proposed by the government in July. Approval from the Bundesrat is still required. Once that is done, clarity should be established regarding things like electric license plates.

Image: EnBW / Photographer: Endre Dulic

The Bundestag approved the Electromobility Act on Thursday by a majority, in a slightly revised version proposed by the Transport Committee. A half-hour debate preceded the vote in plenary. Now, the draft law only needs to pass the Bundesrat before it can take effect. In its full title, the document reads “Draft Law amending the preferential treatment for the use of electric vehicles and related road traffic regulations.”

The goal is therefore to establish the partial advantages and priorities of electric vehicles in road traffic — which in this case mainly means maintaining them while also expanding their application to buses and trucks. In this way, municipalities are intended to have greater flexibility to better promote electric vehicles in certain areas of traffic, thereby creating an incentive system at the local level for more electric vehicles. Cities can, for example, already grant special parking rights or access rights today.

Members of the CDU/CSU and SPD parties voted in favor of adopting the bill in the Bundestag, while the AfD voted against it. Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and Die Linke abstained. The Bundestag also approved a resolution with the same voting ratio, recommended by the Transport Committee on Wednesday, November 5. The resolution calls on the federal government to submit a report to the Transport Committee by mid-2030 that evaluates the application and effectiveness of the EmoG and identifies any necessary adjustments. The report should include, among other things, scientific findings on the actual usage patterns of plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Without an amendment, the Electromobility Act, which originally came into effect in mid-2015, would expire at the end of the year. Therefore, an extension until 2035 is now being sought, “so as to ensure continuity and planning certainty for municipalities as well as private actors,” the draft states. At the same time, the EmoG is intended to be updated to reflect current standards. The federal government notes in its draft that there is a significant need for adjustments, especially regarding buses and commercial vehicles. The application process for municipalities is also set to become more practical.

As of now, the most important changes include:

• Buses, trucks, and light motor vehicles in the L6e class are intended to be covered by the EmoG. Currently, the EmoG primarily applies to electric passenger cars and light commercial vehicles such as vans. Municipalities could therefore go on to provide corresponding benefits for larger or very light electric vehicles.
• Cities and municipalities will have the option to waive fees for parking electric vehicles in residential areas.

Parking at publicly accessible charging stations is also being reregulated: Electric vehicles will now be allowed to stay there during charging even without an electric license plate. This regulation is intended to be permanently established by law. The charging spots will remain reserved for vehicles that are actually being charged. However, the electric license plate, which is voluntary in Germany, will no longer be required. This legal ambiguity had caused confusion in the past.

The conditions for plug-in hybrids are also being adjusted now: The requirements under which these vehicles can benefit from the regulations of the Electromobility Act are set to be aligned with the rules for business vehicle taxation that will take effect in 2025. According to these new rules, these partial electric vehicles must either emit at most 50 grams of CO₂ per kilometer or have a pure electric range of at least 80 kilometers. Previously, a range of 40 kilometers was sufficient.

In addition, the draft aims to resolve legal ambiguities and make the necessary subsequent changes to other laws.

The minor change made in the Transport Committee concerns the electronic license plates for already registered plug-in hybrids. These retain their validity as long as the vehicles were registered before the law amendment took effect.

The amendment to the Electromobility Act is part of the federal government’s Charging Infrastructure 2030 master plan. The reform aims to ensure the conditions necessary for the further development of electromobility and to expand the toolkit available to municipalities for this purpose. Of course, not every city makes use of these options — but merely having the choices and legal clarity available advances electromobility.