How to apply for the E-Auto-Förderung

Before you apply

An application can be filed only after the car has been registered for the first time. It must be filed at the latest twelve months after the registration to the applicant.

Digital authentication through a BundID account is required. BAFA's preparation page names only two permitted registration types: a BundID account with the option online ID card (trust level high) or with the option ELSTER certificate (trust level substantial). A basic registration by user name and password does not allow an application.

BAFA's checklist also asks for the 17-digit vehicle identification number (FIN) of the eligible new vehicle.

Application steps

The application is filed through the electronic application form that the approving authority provides at foerderzentrale.gov.de. Applications on other forms and incomplete applications cannot be processed. Applications are processed in the order in which the complete documents are received.

BAFA's preparation page says that applications and all documents are submitted exclusively electronically through the Förderzentrale Deutschland; those submitted any other way cannot be processed.

The applicant can authorise another person to apply. The power of attorney is submitted on the form provided with the application. The holder of the vehicle, who is the principal giving the power of attorney, remains the formal applicant and recipient towards BAFA; the payout always goes to the principal, whose bank details must be given in the application.

The payout follows the submission of all necessary documents under section 8.1 of the guideline and a positive check by the approving authority, to an account of the applicant. The approving authority is the Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle (BAFA).

Documents named by the sources

This section lists the documents that the guideline (section 8.1) and BAFA's preparation page name. It is not presented as a complete list: the sources read here do not say that no further document will be requested during processing.

• Income proof: for each person who contributes to the household income, in principle the two most recent income tax assessments of the tax office, not older than three calendar years. For years of joint assessment, the joint assessment is enough for both partners.
• BAFA adds that the two assessments must be current and consecutive, that the assessed tax years may be at most 3 years before the application, and that the assessed tax year, not the date the notice was issued, is decisive. Without them a final processing of the application is not possible.
• Proof of the funding-relevant children, for the higher amounts for children: the guideline names a child benefit proof of the Familienkasse. BAFA names a child benefit certificate, or a child benefit notice with a declaration on its currency, or an extended registration certificate of the citizens' office. The birth dates of the children must be visible, and without correct proof the supplement cannot be considered.
• A power of attorney on the form provided, if another person applies.
• The documents must be in German or in a German translation made by a state-certified interpreter or translator, or by a publicly appointed or sworn interpreter or translator.

The guideline lists a certificate of conformity only for externally rechargeable hybrid vehicles above 60 g CO2/km. It is not part of the guideline's list for battery-electric cars.

After you apply

The applicant must give complete and truthful information on the income of the applicant and of other income-earning household members; false information may entitle the authority to withdraw an approval and demand repayment. By applying, the applicant consents to the retrieval of data from the central vehicle register of the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, and must keep all documents relevant to the grant for at least five years and produce them on request.

Dated rules

The funding guideline took effect on 19 May 2026 and expires on 31 December 2029. If the budgeted funds are used up, no further funding can be approved. There is no legal entitlement to the grant, which is subject to the availability of the budgeted funds.