How would you like an electric car for free?

The increase in state subsidies to buy electric vehicles in some European countries has reached the point in that in Germany you can go to a dealer, sign a two-year lease contract and drive away in an electric Renault Zoe for free, with the cost of the deposit and the €125 euro monthly payment covered by the subsidy, which was recently doubled. You will have to insure it separately, and pay a little more if you want to keep it after two years, but yes, your eyes aren’t deceiving you, and there’s no catch, in Germany misleading advertising is subject to heavy fines: it’s an electric car, for free.

Unsurprisingly, the company that has launched the offer (pdf), König, has been avalanched with thousands of requests for information and with more than three hundred contracts already signed (due to lack of personnel), says it cannot meet demand in the short-term. Other electric models, such as the Mini Cooper SE, are being offered by some distributors for about €26 euros a month, with a BMW i3 going for €115. The tiny Smart EQ at another German dealer, CarFellows, costs €9.90 euros per month (pdf).

Other European countries have also increased subsidies for electric cars: in Croatia, €11,800; in Romania, €11,100; in Germany and Poland, €9,900; in France, €7,700. What is Spain doing in the meantime? Continuing to subsidize diesel and petrol vehicles…