Croats apply for more than 2,200 EV funding grants

A total of 15 million euro ($16 million) was earmarked for the scheme, the fund said in a press release late on Monday.

A total of 1,629 applications were submitted for e-cars, including 1,517 for electric cars and 112 for plug-in hybrid cars, as well as 112 applications for electric scooters and motorbikes.

It is the country's largest-ever incentive programme for electric vehicles, aimed at accelerating the decarbonisation of the transportation system, Luka Balen, the head of the fund, said in the press release. He also announced that this year, the fund will extend similar incentives to companies and units from the public sector looking to replace their existing vehicle fleets.

Croatia started 2024 with at least 6,417 registered electric vehicles, according to data from the local association of owners of such vehicles Strujni Krug. These figures do not include imported used cars, it added.

The environmental protection and energy efficiency fund is the central point for collecting and investing extra budgetary resources in the programmes and projects for environment protection, energy efficiency and use of renewables, according to its website.

($ = 0.938 euro)