Thousands of electric vehicles bought by companies in Hungary's state aid scheme

The number of cars applied for under the company green car scheme has exceeded 4,000.

To date, more than 4400 companies have applied for support for a total of more than 5,200 pure electric vehicles.

Three quarters of the cars to be purchased with government subsidies are passenger cars, while the number of vans has just passed the 1,200 mark.

Compared to the figures published at the end of November, the number of companies applying for a vehicle has increased by 4.76% and the number of vehicles applied for by 3.90%.

According to an earlier announcement, one of the most popular models in the support applications received is the Tesla Model Y, which has caught up with China's BYD ATTO 3, creating a dead heat in the ranking of best-selling vehicles.

Since the beginning of February, businesses can apply for a non-refundable grant for the purchase of an electric car, truck or van. Depending on the battery capacity, the cost of buying an electric vehicle can be up to HUF 2.8-4.0 million, with the grant per company figure capped at HUF 64 million. Businesses with fewer than ten employees can purchase no more than one vehicle, businesses with between 10 and 49 employees up to five, businesses with between 50 and 249 employees up to ten, and larger businesses up to 16 vehicles by spring 2025.

The applications received so far account for two thirds of the HUF 30 billion budget. More than half of the total amount has been awarded in contracts. Around a third of the winners have been paid out almost HUF 5 billion.

By the end of November this year, 68,000 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) have already received green plates in Hungary, nine times more than the number of cars registered by the beginning of 2020.

The spread of clean and quiet vehicles is also reflected in a reduction in emissions: the transport sector's emissions were on a downward trend in 2023, after a steady increase.

The number of green licence plates issued in Hungary dropped 2.1% month on month and nearly 11% year on year in November, according to the latest data by the Ministry of the Interior. The number of pure-electric passenger cars newly registered with green licence plates showed a 1.7% month-on-month decline, but an over 36% year-on-year increase. With green licence plate registration rules tightened on 1 September, the share of hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in all new registrations remains practically zero, but the cumulated figures do not reflect the change. Read our extensive report on green licence plate registrations below:

Cover photo (for illustration purposes only): Getty Images