All electric vehicle subsidies claimed within minutes

All of the electric vehicle subsidies made available by the government were claimed within minutes of applications opening on Tuesday morning.

In total, 260 subsidies with a combined value of €2.5 million were made available to the public to apply for financial assistance to buy electric vehicles, though many would-be applicants were left disappointed after logging onto the government’s portal to find there were no available subsidies left.

Some even said the subsidies had run out “within seconds” of the portal being opened.

Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades told the Cyprus Mail there had been a “definite increase in the amount of interest” shown by the public in the subsidies, and that he had been made aware of the subsidies all being claimed very quickly.

“I know the subsidies have now all run out and I know they were all claimed quickly. I did also hear of anecdotal accounts that the applications had all been claimed within seconds of the subsidies going online, and I will speak with the road transport department to discern exactly how it happened,” he said.

He was also keen to stress the positives of the evidently increased interest in electric vehicle subsidies.

“It is very positive that there is more interest and that there are more applicants. It used to take three months for the subsidies to run out, and the fact that it now happens so quickly shows that people have now become aware of the benefits of electric vehicles, both for themselves and for the environment,” he said.

Later on Tuesday, the transport ministry hailed a “great response” from the public, saying that the heightened interest in the scheme “shows that electric mobility is gaining ground and highlights the importance of maintaining incentives which encourage the transition to more sustainable transportation options”.

It also moved to reassure would-be applicants that new subsidies will be made available in the near future, with some subsidies possibly even being made available “in the coming days” in the event that successful applicants from Monday’s applications either do not use their subsidy or voluntarily cancel their receipt of the subsidy.

The government had last year set a goal of there being 80,000 electric vehicles in Cyprus by 2030 and of all new cars bought in Cyprus to be electric by 2035.

With the number of people buying electric cars having begun to tick up at the time, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis had said that “the increased interest shown by our fellow citizens… is practical proof of the feasibility of accelerating the green transition of our country, especially in electromobility”.