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What You Should Know About EV Incentives In Greece

14 minutes

Greece is in the early stages of EV adoption, but the country does already offer some very attractive EV incentives for residents. Just recently, it announced a new €100 million plan called “I Move Electricity” (<<Κινούμαι Ηλεκτρικά>>), which aims to subsidize the purchase of EVs and chargers until the end of 2021. According to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the plan also stipulates that “every new building should have the infrastructure to charge electric vehicles”, with the goal of installing 1,000 new charging stations in the next few years and 10,000 charging points in the medium term. In Athens, the plan is for every third new vehicle to be electric by 2030. The PM expects the new funding to cover 25% of the cost for about 14,000 new electric cars. Here is a quick overview of the main incentives available: 

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EV Incentives

EV Incentives for Private Individuals

According to the Greek PM, the sum of all planned EV incentives will enable local residents to benefit from up to €10,000 when buying an electric car. Here’s a full breakdown:

Purchase Grants

The following incentives apply from 1 June 2020 to 31 December 2021 and are applicable to vehicles with emissions of up to 50g CO2/km. Details on how to apply are expected to be announced in the next few months: 

  • Subsidy for car/light commercial vehicle:
    • Fully electric cars: 
      • Up to €6,000: 
        • Capped at 20% of the purchase price for cars with a list price below €30,000.
        • Capped at 15% of the purchase price for cars with a list price above €30,000.
    • Hybrid electric cars with emissions of up to 50g CO2/km and with a list price between €30,000-€50,000:
      • Up to €6,000; capped at 15% of the purchase price. 
    • People with special needs and large families can get an additional €1,000 on top of the grants mentioned above.
  • Subsidy for e-scooter:
    • 20% of purchase price: €800.
  • Subsidy for e-bike:
    • 40% of purchase price: up to €800.
  • Scrappage or swap fees
    • €1,000 for scrapping or trading in an old car. 

EV Incentives for Businesses

Companies can take advantage of the following incentives:

Purchase Grants

  • Subsidy for car/light commercial vehicle:
    • Fully electric cars: 
      • Up to €5,500: 
        • Capped at 15% of the purchase price for cars with a list price below €30,000.
    • Hybrid electric cars with emissions of up to 50g CO2/km and with a list price between €30,000-€50,000:
      • Up to €4,000; capped at 15% of the purchase price.
  • Scrappage or swap fees
    • €1,000 for scrapping or trading in an old car .
  • Subsidy for electric taxi (includes subsidy for the mandatory scrappage of an old taxi):
    • Fully electric car: 
      • Up to €10,500; capped at 25% of the purchase price.
    • Hybrid electric cars with emissions of up to 50g CO2/km and with a list price between €30,000-€50,000
      • Up to €8,000; capped at 15% of the purchase price:

Tax Benefits

  • Companies can make use of the following tax depreciation rates when buying an EV:
    • For fully electric vehicles with a list price of below €40,000:
      • 50% of the purchase price.
    • For a car/van with emissions up to 50g CO2/km and with a list price of below €40,000:
      • 30% of the purchase price.
    • For mopeds/motorcycles with emissions up to 50g CO2/km:
      • 50% of the purchase price.

EV Incentives for both Private Individuals & Businesses

Tax Benefits

  • Registration tax:
    • EVs are exempt from this tax.
  • Ownership tax (road tax)
    • EVs are exempt from this tax until 2022. 
  • Luxury commodity tax
    • EVs are exempt from this tax.
  • VAT
    • 13% VAT for EV purchases (instead of 24%).

Other Benefits:

  • Free parking: EVs are exempt from parking fees. 
  • Traffic circulation restrictions
    • In many cities, like Athens, restrictions imposed in city centres to curb air pollution do not apply to EVs.

EV Charging Incentives

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EV Charging Incentives for Private Individuals

  • Purchase subsidy: 
    • €500 for the purchase of a smart home charger; details on how to apply are expected to be announced in the next few months.

EV Charging Incentives for Condos and Businesses  

  • Tax depreciation rates:
    • Companies can make use of the following tax depreciation rates:
      • 50% of the purchase and installation costs of EV chargers.
      • 70% of the purchase and installation costs of EV chargers on the Island Municipalities of Greece.
  • Additional tax benefits for businesses:
    • Under the new EV incentive plan, the cost of charging corporate fleets will be considered an expense for firms, which enables them to achieve further tax savings.

Public EV Charging Network

Greece will step up the development of the public EV charging infrastructure in the years to come, and has already set up some key dates:

  • End of 2021:
    • All of the country’s main roads to be fully covered by EV chargers.
  • March 2021
    • Municipalities are required to have EV charging points within the limits of their liability.

Greece matches other European EV grants to boost their market  

Greece’s new €100 EV plan reveals the country’s hopes to join some of the bigger EV markets in the EU. Over the next 18 months, Greek residents can benefit from greater grants than ever before when investing in EVs or chargers. To find out more about EV and EV charging incentives in other European countries and how they compare to the Greek subsidies, read our complete EU EV incentives guide.