State to Continue Subsidizing Electric Vehicle Sales Until End of 2015
The Cabinet today decided to extend the state's electric car subsidizing program, which covers up to half the cost of a new electric car purchased in Estonia, for an extra year.
Environmental minister Keit Pentus-Rosimannus said the program is akin to Estonians, difficult to get going and difficult to stop, adding that more and more people are opting for an electric vehicle instead of a usual petrol car. In Estonia, 47 electric cars were sold in April and 42 in May, Postimees reported today.
A total of 447 electric vehicles, the most popular of which has been Nissan Leaf (249 sold) have been sold since the program began three years ago, with the state paying 7.4 million euros in subsidies.
Estonia has 163 electric vehicle charging networks around the country, making it one of the world's most widely available in-country networks.
The ELMO, or Estonian Electromobility Program, consists of three parts: the purchase of 507 Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric cars for use by state institutions and local governments, construction of a nation-wide network of charging stations and offering state subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles. The initial funds for the project were acquired from the sale of 10 million AAUs, or assigned amount units, of CO2 emissions.