Vehicle tax for this electric vehicle comes to:
0,00 €An electric car pays nothing for ten years and half the weight-based rate afterwards. Enter the date of first registration and the calculator works out which of the two applies to you today.
An electric car in Germany pays no vehicle tax for ten years, and half the normal rate afterwards. Both halves of that sentence need a date to make sense, because the exemption is counted from the day the vehicle was first registered and it ends on a fixed calendar date no matter when it started. Since the beginning of 2026 those dates have changed in the owner’s favour.
The exemption applies to vehicles driven exclusively by a battery or by a fuel cell. Hybrids do not qualify, and neither do plug-in hybrids or cars with a range extender. Those are taxed by engine size and CO₂ like any other combustion car – see the page on car tax.
How long the exemption runs
| First registered or converted | Free of tax for | Afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 17 May 2011 | Five years, cars only. Long since over. | Half the rate |
| 18 May 2011 to 31 December 2030 | Ten years from the day of first registration, at the latest until 31 December 2035 | Half the rate |
| Converted to electric drive between 18 May 2016 and 31 December 2030 | Ten years from the day the registration authority confirms the conversion, at the latest until 31 December 2035 | Half the rate |
Two consequences are worth spelling out.
If your car was first registered up to the end of 2025, you now get the full ten years. Under the previous version of the law the exemption stopped at the end of 2030, which cut it short for later registrations. The Eighth Act amending the Motor Vehicle Tax Act, in force since 1 January 2026, moved that backstop to the end of 2035. Anyone whose exemption had been shortened receives an amended assessment during 2026 without applying for it.
If your car is first registered from 2026 onwards, you get what is left until the end of 2035, not ten years. A car registered in 2029 is exempt for roughly six years. The later the registration, the shorter the benefit, and from 2031 there is none at all.
What you pay once the exemption ends
An electric vehicle is then taxed on weight alone, at half the rate that applies to commercial vehicles. There is no CO₂ component and no engine size involved, because there is no engine displacement to measure.
| Permitted gross weight | Per started 200 kg, halved |
|---|---|
| Up to 2,000 kg | €5.63 |
| Above 2,000 up to 3,000 kg | €6.01 |
| Above 3,000 up to 3,500 kg | €6.39 |
| Above 3,500 kg | Half the S 2 scale for trucks, capped at €278 |
As with commercial vehicles, each slice of weight is charged at its own rate; the whole weight is never multiplied by one figure. A 2,500 kg vehicle is ten steps at the first rate plus three at the second, which gives €148.56 before halving, so €74.28 a year, collected as €74.
| Permitted gross weight | Charged per year after the exemption |
|---|---|
| 1,500 kg | €45 |
| 2,000 kg | €56 |
| 2,200 kg | €62 |
| 2,500 kg | €74 |
| 3,000 kg | €86 |
| 3,500 kg | €105 |
Compared with a combustion car of the same size, which easily reaches €200 to €400, the difference does not disappear when the exemption runs out. It shrinks.
Working out your own end date
Count ten years forward from the day in field B of your registration certificate, then compare that date with the end of 2035 and take whichever comes first.
A car first registered on 15 March 2022 is therefore free of tax until 14 March 2032, and pays the halved weight-based rate from the following day. A car first registered on 1 July 2027 would reach its ten years in 2037, but the backstop cuts it to the end of 2035, so it is exempt for about eight and a half years. A conversion to electric drive uses the day the registration authority confirmed the conversion in place of the first registration date.
For a vehicle first registered before 18 May 2011 the question no longer arises: those five years expired long ago, and the vehicle has been paying the halved rate ever since.
What the saving is actually worth
Set against a combustion car of comparable size, the exemption is worth roughly €100 to €300 a year, and the halved rate afterwards keeps about half of that. A 2,200 kg electric car pays nothing for ten years and €62 after that. A petrol car of 2,000 cc emitting 155 g/km pays €174 every year from the start, and a diesel of similar size and emissions well over €300. Over a twelve-year ownership the difference runs into four figures, which is a real number but a small one beside the purchase price.
Nothing to apply for, and it survives a sale
The exemption and the later reduction are granted automatically. There is no form, and no deadline you could miss.
- The exemption is tied to the vehicle, not to you. It is granted once and keeps running when the car is sold, which is worth checking before you buy a used electric car: ask for the date of first registration and count ten years from it.
- Taking the car off the road does not extend the exemption, and nor do the months outside the operating period of a seasonal plate. The ten years run as calendar time.
- Because the exemption is per vehicle, a car that has already used part of it comes to you with only the remainder.
Reading the result of the calculator
The calculator on this page asks for the date of first registration precisely because of the above. If the date falls inside the exemption, it reports the date on which the exemption ends and what the tax will be from then on. If the date is outside it, it shows the halved weight-based amount straight away. Enter the date from field B of your registration certificate Part I, and for a converted vehicle enter the day the registration authority recorded the conversion instead.
Frequently asked questions
Ten years counted from the date of first registration, for vehicles first registered between 18 May 2011 and 31 December 2030, and ending at the latest on 31 December 2035. Take the date in field B of your papers, add ten years, and compare the result with the end of 2035: whichever comes first is your end date.
Half the weight-based rate that applies to commercial vehicles, and nothing else. In practice that is €45 a year at 1,500 kg, €56 at 2,000 kg, €74 at 2,500 kg and €105 at 3,500 kg. A comparable petrol or diesel car pays two to four times as much, so the advantage shrinks when the exemption ends but does not disappear.
No. Both the exemption and the later halving are granted automatically by the customs administration. There is no form and no deadline. Owners whose exemption had been shortened by the earlier 2030 deadline receive an amended assessment during 2026 without doing anything.
Yes, because it belongs to the vehicle rather than to the keeper. It is granted once and keeps running through a change of owner, which also means you inherit only what is left of it. Ask for the date of first registration and count ten years forward before you buy. Taking the car off the road does not extend the exemption, and nor do the months outside a seasonal operating period.
No. The exemption covers vehicles driven exclusively by a battery or a fuel cell. A plug-in hybrid or a car with a range extender still has a combustion engine and is taxed on engine size and CO₂ like any other car.
You get the time remaining until the end of 2035, not a full ten years. A car first registered in 2029 is exempt for roughly six years, and one first registered from 2031 gets no exemption at all and pays the halved weight-based rate from the first day.
Updated 11 September 2026. The exemption is Section 3d and the halved rate Section 9 (2) of the Kraftfahrzeugsteuergesetz, in the version of the Eighth Act amending that law, promulgated on 22 December 2025 and in force since 1 January 2026. That hybrids and range extenders are excluded, and that amended assessments are issued without an application, follows the customs administration page on tax relief for battery-electric vehicles at zoll.de, in German. Amounts are our own calculations and do not replace the assessment of your main customs office.