Interest in funding provided by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV – Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr) for climate-friendly commercial vehicles has risen considerably. The number of applications for funding support has more than quadrupled in the current call.
In the current funding round, the BMDV is providing one billion euros for fleet conversion, based on the funding guideline: ‘Guideline on the funding of commercial vehicles with alternative, climate-protecting drives and associated refuelling and charging infrastructure’ (KsNI – “Richtlinie über die Förderung von Nutzfahrzeugen mit alternativen, klimaschonenden Antrieben und dazugehöriger Tank- und Ladeinfrastruktur”).
Dr. Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital and Transport: “The market ramp-up of emission-free commercial vehicles has begun. The market is developing very dynamically, and interest is high. This demonstrates the huge success of our funding programme for climate-protecting commercial vehicles and infrastructure. In the current funding round, we are putting around 7,000 climate-friendly commercial vehicles on the road and supporting around 1,000 companies, and not only in the logistics sector. Our funding is an effective incentive to switch to alternative drives. The vehicle manufacturers are making major advances in development. As early as 2030, three out of four newly-registered heavy-duty commercial vehicles will be emission-free.”
In the current second funding call, with 2,700 applications, more than quadruple the amount of applications were submitted compared to the first funding call in 2021. Funding will be provided for the procurement of vehicles and the installation of the associated infrastructure. More than 10,500 vehicles as well as around 3,000 refuelling and charging columns were applied for in the current funding round. Around 40 per cent of the climate-friendly vehicles approved thus far are heavy-duty commercial vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of more than twelve tonnes.
In the competition for a funding call, the applications for climate-friendly commercial vehicles that are successful are those that can prove the highest CO2 saving per funding euro. The decision-making phase on commercial vehicle funding has almost concluded. The last applications are being examined and decided upon. The third funding call based on the KsNI funding guideline is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023.
In the first KsNI funding call in 2021, around 180 million euros were approved. Almost 20 per cent of the commercial vehicles funded were already operational in February and have since been making an active contribution to climate protection.
The guideline was approved by the European Commission in 2021 and with a renewed approval on 02.12.2022, was extended by two years. The BMDV is providing a total of around 2.2 billion euros to fund the procurement of climate-friendly commercial vehicles between 2023 and 2026. In addition, around 10.1 billion euros are available until 2026 for the construction or expansion of refuelling and charging infrastructure for passenger cars and trucks. The KsNI guideline is financed to a considerable extent from these funds.
Further information about the funding guideline can be found under the following links:
- klimafreundliche-nutzfahrzeuge.de
- balm.bund.de/DE/Foerderprogramme/KlimaschutzundMobilitaet/KSNI/Ksni_node.html
Source: BMDV