Leasing and Rental Drive Electric Vehicle Adoption as “My Electric” Program Utilizes 90% of Subsidy Funds

• Almost 90 percent of the budget for subsidies for the leasing and rental of zero-emission vehicles has already been granted under the “My Electric” program
• The number of subsidies granted to lessees has exceeded 18 thousand, with a value of 592 million PLN
• As announced by the government, a new program of subsidies for electric cars under the National Recovery Plan (KPO) will start in autumn
• The Polish Leasing Association hopes that leasing and rental will also be included in another electromobility project – “My Electric Bike”

The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFEP&WM) recently announced an increase in the budget for subsidies in leasing and rental of zero-emission vehicles implemented under the “My Electric” program. It increased by 60 million PLN, to the amount of 660 million PLN. The leasing industry has long been calling for an increase in the program’s budget. According to NFEP&WM, this will allow for the subsidization of about 2,000 zero-emission cars. According to data from the Bank of Environmental Protection, which is the program operator, the value of granted subsidies has already exceeded 592 million PLN by the end of the first half of 2024. This means that almost 90 percent of the subsidy budget for leasing and renting electric cars has already been used.

“62 percent of the total subsidy is being used by the so-called leasing path. It’s not surprising as micro, small, and medium-sized companies often rely on leasing for their investments. However, to effectively and quickly grant financing, it would be necessary to shorten the processing time for an application. Today, it can take many months to grant a subsidy for an electric vehicle. Because of this, some customers withdraw from seeking such support,” says Monika Constant, President of the Polish Leasing Association.

According to BOŚ Bank data, by mid-2024, the value of disbursed subsidies amounted to 350 million PLN, and their number was 10.2 thousand. This constitutes nearly 60 percent of the already granted subsidies’ value (592 million PLN).

Overall, the value of applications for subsidies for leasing and rental of zero-emission vehicles submitted by entrepreneurs reached 657 million PLN.

Data from the Polish Automotive Industry Association shows that in the first half of 2024, almost 9,000 electric passenger cars (first registrations of new vehicles) were registered in Poland. Most of them are new vehicles registered by companies (7.6 thousand), and leasing and rental accounted for 74 percent of the new registrations for these companies.

“Leasing and rental are the most popular ways for entrepreneurs to finance electric cars. We are therefore pleased with the government’s announcement that additional funds for their purchase subsidies will be included in the National Reconstruction Plan,” adds Monika Constant.

Under the National Recovery Plan, a total of 374 million euros, or nearly 1.6 billion PLN, is to be allocated for a new subsidy program for zero-emission cars. In addition, funding for the purchase of electric bicycles will also be possible under the KPO.

“In the government’s project of the ‘My Electric Bike’ program, leasing and rental have not been included in the financing terms. The Polish Leasing Association hopes that the industry’s proposals submitted during the recently completed consultations will be taken into account in the final version of this program. Previous experiences from the initial phase of the ‘My Electric’ program implementation – where leasing and rental were initially excluded as a form of financing for the purchase of electric vehicles – resulted in difficulties in absorbing funds. The flexibility of leasing and its popularity can once again help in the more efficient use of the available pool of money destined to support the development of electromobility,” emphasizes the president of ZPL.