In early February, the NaszEauto program was launched, providing a total of PLN 1.6 billion in subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles. The maximum amount of support is PLN 40,000, and it is available exclusively to individuals and those running sole proprietorships. Experts warn that excluding companies from this program could prevent it from achieving the desired effects. “Subsidies should be part of broader systemic changes, primarily based on changes to tax regulations,” says Aleksander Szałański from the Foundation for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles.
The key differences between the new NaszEauto support program for purchasing zero-emission cars and its predecessor, the well-known Mój Elektryk program, are fourfold. First, the group of beneficiaries—NaszEauto is aimed exclusively at individuals and sole proprietors.
The second difference is the amount of support. The new program offers higher subsidies than its predecessor. While Mój Elektryk offered PLN 27,000, the new program can provide up to PLN 40,000 in support. This increase is due to additional premiums that were not present in the previous program, including an additional premium for scrapping an old combustion vehicle and for earning below PLN 135,000 annually.
A fourth difference concerns the vehicles eligible for support. NaszEauto covers only M1 category vehicles (passenger cars), while the previous program also included light commercial vehicles.
NaszEauto supports brand-new electric vehicles with up to 6,000 kilometers driven, which have not been registered before purchase (with a maximum price of PLN 225,000 net, excluding VAT). Demonstration vehicles, such as those used for test drives on dealer plates, are also eligible for the program.
For individuals, the subsidy amounts to PLN 18,750, with additional premiums of PLN 10,000 for scrapping an old car and PLN 11,250 for low income (below PLN 135,000 gross). For families with the Large Family Card, the base subsidy is PLN 30,000, with premiums of PLN 5,000 for scrapping and low income. Sole proprietors can receive a base subsidy of PLN 30,000 and an additional PLN 10,000 premium for scrapping.
The NaszEauto program has received mixed reviews. The fact that the program exists is appreciated, and dealers and manufacturers are pleased with the increase in the maximum vehicle value eligible for support. However, experts point out the limitation of the beneficiary group. “We have significantly limited the ability to apply for subsidies by excluding companies, entrepreneurs, and corporate fleets,” explains Aleksander Szałański.
According to data from the end of December 2024, there were 80,699 fully electric passenger and utility vehicles (BEVs) registered in Poland. Over the past year, their number increased by 24,200 units, or 2%, according to the Electromobility Counter launched by PZPM and PSNM. Experts attribute the market slowdown to the suspension of subsidy programs.
The new program is unlikely to accelerate the rapid transformation of the market. Wojciech Drzewiecki, president of the Automotive Market Research Institute Samar, writes on LinkedIn that the current sales structure suggests that to significantly impact the market and contribute to increasing the share of electric vehicles, investment should focus on the institutional customer market. This part of the Polish market absorbed 87% of the registered BEVs last year.
“From this perspective, we should focus on supporting the electrification of company vehicles through various support instruments and incentives, as well as introducing new obligations for companies to introduce these vehicles to the market, with private individuals receiving them as post-leasing cars, after being used by companies,” suggests FPPE expert.
He believes the subsidies proposed by the government are a short-term, interventionist mechanism that should complement broader systemic changes based on changes to tax regulations.
“The goal should be to make the use of high-emission cars not significantly more profitable than low-emission cars. We should aim for the principle of ‘polluter pays’ to be applied more broadly in transport,” says Aleksander Szałański.
The Polish Institute of Automotive Transport states that Poland is one of the few countries (along with Lithuania and Estonia) that has not introduced any tax on combustion cars. In other European countries, at least one tax on combustion cars is applied—whether it is charged at the time of registration, related to ownership, or business use. For example, Austria, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Italy only have registration fees, while Latvia and Slovakia tax only passenger car usage. Belgium, Denmark, and Germany impose the fee in all three cases.
The tax on combustion cars was one of the milestones of the National Recovery Plan, which was agreed upon by the previous government. The current government renegotiated the conditions, excluding private passenger cars from it. In return, it agreed to introduce an environmental fee for entrepreneurs using combustion vehicles in their business, provided their fleet consists of more than one car. The type of vehicle does not matter—owners of vehicles in the N1 category up to 3.5 tons will also pay. The fee will depend on carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.
“We are in favor of a reform that would replace the current excise and emission fees with a single vehicle ownership fee based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle, as well as a registration fee that should be changed to reflect the vehicle’s emissions, in order to prevent the import of old, high-emission cars into Poland,” explains the expert.
The Foundation for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles and the Polish Economic Institute have prepared a report analyzing planned changes to the taxation of passenger cars in Poland. Experts assess that the current road transport tax system is one of the most generous for combustion vehicle owners, particularly benefiting those with large cars, including C-segment SUVs and larger. At the same time, there are insufficient incentives for purchasing zero- or low-emission vehicles, which translates into one of the lowest shares of such vehicles in the national fleet in Europe. The report calculates that the current cumulative tax burden on large combustion vehicles in Poland is, on average, 56% lower than the European average. Depending on the proposed tax reform scenario, the maintenance costs of large combustion vehicles (both petrol and diesel) could rise by up to 27%. Meanwhile, the operating costs of small petrol cars could decrease by 7 to 25%.
“Protecting the less wealthy could involve various exclusions and a particular emphasis on diesel vehicles. It’s not always necessary for everyone to switch to public transport or private electric cars. Sometimes, in the first step, it’s enough to replace an old diesel with an old petrol car,” says a representative of FPPE. “Another important instrument is regulations concerning corporate fleets, which should also aim to make the use of smaller, less-emission electric vehicles more financially advantageous, while larger, heavier, and more-emission vehicles should cost more.”
Alongside tax changes, the appropriate infrastructure is essential for market transformation. By the end of 2024, there were 8,659 publicly available electric vehicle charging points in Poland, with 31% of them being fast DC charging points and 69% being AC charging points with a power of 22 kW or less.
“The third area is education and information. There are still many myths about electric cars, and knowledge is limited. Increasing awareness among users would also accelerate this process,” adds Aleksander Szałański.
