Six Months Late, Germany Targets 1 Million Electric Cars To Be Reached This July

The German government is very ambitious to make electric cars a substitute for conventional cars. (photo credit: Michael Jasmund/unsplash)

JAKARTA - The German government targets that by July it will have 1 million electric cars operating on the country's roads. According to Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, the target was already six months late.

Peter Altmaier told the daily Tagesspiegel on Friday, July 2, the German government is continuing to create various subsidy programs to increase demand.

"We will achieve our target of 1 million electric cars by 2020, which everyone thought was impossible to achieve. However, this July we can, only six months late," the minister was quoted as saying by Tagesspiegel.

The German government wants to market more electric cars, because they are considered environmentally friendly and reduce exhaust emissions. Moreover, electric car batteries are now able to be recycled so that electric cars are more environmentally friendly

"More bonuses have been taken (the public) in the first half of 2021 than in the whole of last year," he added. The German government itself, says they have issued subsidies for electric cars of up to 1.25 billion euros (21.5 trillion rupiah). Subsidies have even continued to increase during the coronavirus pandemic.

Altmaier also said that Germany could exceed its long-term goal of having 7-10 million electric vehicles on the country's roads in the next few years.

This ambitious target makes car manufacturers in Germany continue to compete to make new products for electric cars that are cheaper and more efficient.