Germany to have 1 million electric cars on the road in July

Germany will in July have 1 million electric cars on the road, hitting its target six months late, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told Tagesspiegel daily on Friday, saying subsidy programmes had boosted demand.

"We will reach our target of 1 million electric cars by 2020, which everyone thought was unattainable, this July, just six months late," the minister was quoted as saying.

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"More bonuses have been taken up in the first half of 2021 than in the whole of last year," he added, saying they amounted to 1.25 billion euros. Subsidies were increased during the coronavirus pandemic.

Altmaier also said that Germany may exceed its longer-term goal of having 7-10 million electric vehicles on its streets.