In an attempt to get more older cars off the roads, Sweden's government has raised the scrap premium to 10,000 kroner. But that pisses off the Swedes.
– There is no functioning and inspected petrol or diesel car that is worth so little.
This is the statement from Håkan Springfeldt, regional director at the Swedish car dealer Bilkompaniet.
Starting this week, the Swedes can otherwise get 10,000 kroner (6,570 Danish kroner, ed.) in scrap premium for their cars. However, the money comes with a number of strict conditions.
The scrapped car must either run on petrol or diesel, and then the money from the scrapping premium must be used on a new electric car.
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The increased scrap premium should be seen as a small patch on the wound left when Sweden's previous government removed public support for the electric car two years ago.
At the time, the rationale was that electric cars – at least in terms of purchase price – were approaching the level of petrol and diesel cars. Something that has since been shown not to be true.
In an interview with Swedish Carup, Håkan Springfeldt also has only scorn left over for the scrap premium. It does not bring any sales with it. At least not when it comes to new cars.
The cars that can be purchased in Sweden for 10,000 kroner are mostly wrecks with major defects, which already mean that they are not allowed on the roads.
– First there was a subsidy scheme of DKK 70,000, then it was lowered to DKK 50,000 and then removed completely last year. After that, we have largely not sold electric cars to private individuals, says the dealer.
In this country, the support for electric cars in the form of lenient registration tax is also set to gradually decrease towards 2035. In fact, electric cars will already be more expensive in the New Year. Read more about it here .
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