Purchase of zero-emission trucks to be supported by Sweden
Sweden plans to subsidize the acquisition of emission-free trucks in the medium term.
The Swedish government has issued a draft amendment to their Ordinance 2020:750 on state aid for certain environmental vehicles. With the changes to the law, it incorporates governmental subsidies for the purchase of trucks and working machines.
The state aid shall be granted for a number of different vehicles, including zero-emission and clean heavy-duty trucks, light-duty electric trucks and gas-powered trucks, as well as green working machines that are motorised machinery including tractors. For each vehicle category, the law states specific definitions. Green machinery for carrying out work, for example, is any motorised machinery or tractor with a net power of at least 15 kW intended to run on electricity or fuels.
Different intensities of aids
The aid granted is based on the type of vehicle bought and company size and has an upper limit. For zero-emission heavy-duty trucks the maximum aid granted is 25% of the purchase cost of the vehicle and depends on the size of the company. Clean trucks are subsidized up to 20% of the purchase cost, and also depend on the company size. Light-duty electric trucks are eligible for aid of up to 30%, but no more than SEK 50.000.
Grants will be provided as longs funds are available. Furthermore, any upper limit will be gradually reduced in the following two years until completely phased out.
Permission to issue state aid granted by the EU
The draft amendment issued by Sweden is based on EU law. In 2014, the EU has issued Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014, also known as General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). This law aims to give governmental subsidies to companies for the purchase of clean vehicles. Before this regulation, EU Member States had to request prior permission from the European Commission as any state aids create an unfair competitive advantage and are generally not permitted.
With the granting of state aid, Sweden aims to promote more environmentally friendly light- and heavy-duty trucks and working machines. The draft amendment can be retrieved here.
