The cost of buying an electric car in Germany could soon drop if a new scheme trailed by economy minister Sigmar Gabriel to encourage more people switch to zero emission motoring comes to fruition.
According an article in German newspaper Die Zeit published on Wednesday, Gabriel wants to commit €2bn (£1.5bn) in government subsidies to support those buying electric cars.
Details of how the subsidy scheme may work remain vague, but the paper also reported that the government wants to expand the number of charging stations, which stood at only 4,800 (as well as 100 quick service charging points) at the end of 2014.
In addition, federal offices will also be encouraged to use electric cars, Gabriel said - though he was careful to point out this would be funded under the current German budget and would not require tax increases.
Germany plans to put one million electric cars on the roads by 2020, but only 12,000 new electric cars were sold in Germany last year, compared to three million petrol and diesel cars.
However interest in electric cars grew at the end of last year in the wake of the Volkswagen emission scandal, and sales in Germany hit a record high in December.
Demand for zero emission cars is soaring across much of Europe, albeit from a low base. Earlier this month, sales figures from the UK revealed demand for vehicles eligible for the government's Plug-in Grant scheme almost doubled last year to 28,188.
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