Factsheet for measure
HU-2024-6/3635
–
Updated
– measures in Hungary
Support for the purchase of electric road vehicles for enterprises
Közúti elektromos jármű beszerzés támogatása vállalkozásoknak
Background information
The government has already operated various support programmes for business purchases of e-vehicles between 2016 and 2021. After a gap of several years, a new programme was launched in 2024 under the RePowerEU plan (RRF-REP-10.10.1-24).Hungary’s parliamentary resolution on ‘non-deferred tasks arising from climate change’(18/2020) approves the governmental climate and nature protection plan and related energy policy strategies with the purpose to adapt to climate change, improve energy efficiency and decrease the carbon emissions in electricity production. Strategic measures to achieve the goals include to encourage the deployment of solar capacity, enhance low carbon electricity production, increase the number of electric buses and promote the uptake of electric vehicles. Hungary also adopted government decree 397/2022 in October 2022 on the promotion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles (a legal equivalent of Directive (EU) 2019/1161 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 amending Directive 2009/33/EC.
Content of measure
The programme provides non-refundable grants for firms and individual entrepreneurs to finance their purchase of new battery electric cars, light commercial vehicles or minibuses. Hybrid vehicles and used electric vehicles are not eligible. The amount available for each applicant ranges from HUF 2.8 million to 64 million (roughly €7,000 to €156,000). The maximum amount per vehicle is HUF 2.8 million to 4 million (€7,000 – 10,000), differentiated according to the vehicle type, net purchase price, and battery size. The number of vehicles each applicant may purchase is limited by company size, with a maximum of 16 vehicles for firms with 250 or more employees, and 1 vehicle for firms with less than 10 employees.
The programme is post-financed, meaning the grant is transferred after the completion of the purchase. The applicant may finance the vehicles by leasing, but only short-term, closed-end leases are permitted, since the purchase and transfer of ownership must be completed by 30 April 2026, at the latest.
The total programme allocation is HUF 30 billion (€73 million), with about one-third dedicated to Budapest and the remaining two-thirds earmarked for the rest of the country.
The deadline for the submission of applications is 31 March 2025.
Updates
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
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15 May 2025
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The part of the total allocation dedicated to Budapest was reduced slightly below one-third of the total, while the allocation dedicated to the other regions of the country was increased accordingly. The country-level total remained unchanged.
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31 March 2025
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The deadline for the submission of applications was extended to 31 December 2025. In addition, the scope of eligible firms was expanded to include firms that had completed at least one, closed business year before the year of application.
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24 October 2024
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The scope of eligible firms and enterprises was expanded to include those established during 2022, along with the elimination of the former restriction that the business income should be higher than the eligible cost of vehicle purchase indicated in the application. This easing has increased the number of applications
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Use of measure
By 9 December 2024, the sum of support required by the 4,364 tenders received amounted to 67% of the allocated fund, while the awarded sum reached 53% of the total allocation. The inflow of applications accelerated since the eligibility requirements were eased in October 2024.
Target groups
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Workers
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Businesses
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Citizens
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Does not apply to workers
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Applies to all businesses
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Does not apply to citizens
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Actors and funding
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Actors
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Funding
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National government
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Companies
European Funds
National funds
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Social partners
Social partners' role in
designing the measure
and form of involvement:
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Trade unions
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Employers' organisations
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Role
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No involvement
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No involvement
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Form
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Not applicable
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Not applicable
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Social partners' role in the
implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
-
No involvement
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Main level of involvement: N/A
Involvement
No involvement was reported.
Views and reactions
According to an investment analyst, the support programme is only a good choice for those who seek cheap electric vehicles, while open-ended leasing is a preferable option in the case of the purchase of more expensive models. One of the reasons is that the interest payments on the lease can be deducted from the corporate income tax while the e-car support programme does not affect corporate taxes. Another reason is that with open-ended leasing at 50-100% of the VAT payment can be reimbursed. There is no such possibility in the case of the purchase support programme, precisely because the terms of the tender exclude open-ended leasing.
The National Taxi Association deplored the low grant-to-price ratio in the case of larger vehicles that are suitable for use as taxis: they estimate the aid ratio as just over 20%.
An environmental group (Levegő Munkacsoport) opined that the aim of sustainable mobility would have been served best if support had been focussed on enterprises with the highest mileage and vehicles that are used by many people. Therefore, taxi and carsharing enterprises and courier services would have been the best targets for vehicle purchase programmes,
Sources
