Electric cars offer new option

TALLINN - From July 11, both individuals and legal entities will be able to apply for a 50 percent subsidy for buying an electric car, reports National Broadcasting. The maximum amount of the subsidy has been capped at 18,000 euros per car.
To the subsidy will be added an amount of 1,000 euros for buying a charger for the car and the related installation work.
The subsidy will be provided for purchasing approximately 500 electric cars and will only be allocated for purchasing fully electric cars with a maximum speed higher than 60 kilometers per hour. The cars can be bought in Estonia as well as from elsewhere in the European Union.

The objective of the program is to reduce pollution and to increase the use of renewable energy by expanding the use of electric cars in private transport. It is also considered to help getting closer to the objective set in Estonia’s Renewable Energy Action Plan, which provides that by the year 2020, the share of renewable energy in transport fuels would be ten percent.
The electric car subsidies are financed from the funds received from the CO2 quota on the basis of a contract concluded between the State and the Mitsubishi Corporation. In the framework of the same transaction, Estonia will also buy a pan-Estonian network for express charging of electric cars and will get 507 electric cars from Mitsubishi that will be used by social workers.