2022 was a tough year for motorists – they had never had to pay so much for their individual mobility. At least there will be a small relief in 2023. And: Electric car fans have to hurry.
No turn of the year without changes for drivers too. Especially the buyers and drivers of electric vehicles are affected this time. FOCUS online gives you an overview:
Pink is out, orange is in. If you have a pink TÜV sticker stuck to your license plate, your vehicle should have a general inspection (HU) by one of the testing organizations in 2023. There he gets – if the car is in order – an orange sticker that is valid until 2025.
The month in which the main inspection is due is revealed by the pink plaque above the number above (i.e. “3” for March, for example). Alternatively, it is also shown by the black bar on the edge, which is in the corresponding position of the number, like on the face of a clock. Or you can look in Part I of the registration certificate, in which the main inspection is noted. In principle, the HU must not be exceeded. It must be done within the month stated on the plaque. Anyone who waits longer than the end of the specified month with the HU commits an administrative offence, if the overdraft is more than two months, a fine is due.
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The cheerful exchange of driving licenses will continue in the coming year. Anyone who still carries the old “cardboard” in gray or pink with them and was born between 1959 and 1964 must exchange the piece they have come to love for the new, forgery-proof driving license the size of a credit card by January 19, 2023 at the latest. After all, you can keep the old piece as a souvenir and devalued. Anyone caught with the old “rag” after the change date pays ten euros and is required to hand in the new document later.
But be careful: Old driver’s licenses lose their validity, but the driver’s license itself remains. From January 19th, the driving licenses of the years 1965 to 1970 are due for exchange. They then have a year to do so. And of course: the state cashes in heavily – the new driver’s license is limited to 15 years and costs 25 euros. The background is that the European Union wants to end the coexistence of more than 110 different driving licenses in the EU and make the new ones forgery-proof.
The regulation has been in force since February 1 that there must also be two corona protective masks in the car first aid kit. But a transitional obligation granted at the time will end on December 31st. Anyone who cannot show a mask during a check can pay a fine of five euros. Medical masks are sufficient and the first aid kit does not have to be bought separately, you can of course put the masks in yourself.
Some car market experts are predicting a slump in sales of electric cars in 2023. The reason: the federal government has reorganized the support for electric vehicles and reduced the subsidy premiums. As a result, the dealer share is also falling. The maximum possible subsidy when buying a new electric car has been reduced from 9,000 euros to a maximum of 6,700 euros.
For electric cars with a net list price of 40,000 euros, for example, there are only 4,500 euros from the state instead of the previous 6,000 euros, plus 2,250 euros from the manufacturer. For vehicles with a list price of up to 65,000 euros, there are only 3,000 euros from the state and 1,500 euros from the manufacturer. And even that will only apply to private customers from September 2023. All information about subsidies can be found on Germany’s largest electric car portal EFAHRER.com.
2023 will be the end of state subsidies for plug-in hybrids. These are cars that can drive both electrically and with a combustion engine and are charged via a socket and cable. It doesn’t matter whether they can travel 40 or 140 kilometers purely electrically. If you still want the premium, you have to hurry: Corresponding cars must be registered by the turn of the year in order to still be able to take advantage of the premium.
In 2023, owners of electric cars and scooters will still be able to sell so-called GHG certificates. The aim of the greenhouse gas quota (GHG) is to reduce CO2 in road traffic. However, this is based on a math trick: companies that produce more CO2 have to pay money for it. In return, owners of electric cars, for example, have been able to sell certificates for their “underconsumption” of CO2 since the beginning of 2022 and receive money in return – by the way, it doesn’t matter whether your car charges really environmentally friendly or is more of a charcoal stinker.
The rate can be several hundred euros. In addition to the classic electricity suppliers and mobility providers, there are also other contact points for certificate trading. Start-up companies such as Emobia, Klima-Quote.de or Fairnergy collect the GHG quotas and transfer them to the owners of an e-car. The vehicle registration document is sufficient for reporting. However, the GHG premium must be reapplied for in 2023.
Motor vehicle insurance companies are changing the regional classes next year. Around 15 million drivers are affected. The drivers of 101 districts are classified in higher regional classes. According to the General Association of the German Insurance Industry (GDV), around 8.1 million motorists will then have higher type classes in motor liability insurance, around 4.8 million can look forward to a better classification.
For the remaining 29.3 million drivers, the type class will remain the same as in 2022. In fully comprehensive insurance, around 1.1 million cars will have a higher classification and around 8.3 million will have a lower classification. In partially comprehensive, around 600,000 vehicles slip into higher, 4.8 million into lower type classes.
A little hope on the petrol price front: Due to the high energy costs, the third car-related taxation of CO2 (after eco-tax and vehicle tax) will not rise from 30 to 35 euros per tonne of CO2 as originally planned. This should also have an impact on the price of petrol – at least several cents per liter.
In 2023, toll fees will remain the same almost all over Europe. Except in Austria. There, the vignette prices are rising more significantly than has been the case up to now. The new price for the annual car vignette is EUR 96.40, for two months it is EUR 29.00 and the 10-day sticker now costs EUR 9.90. An annual vignette is still available in Switzerland for 40 euros. In Slovenia, too, there are no changes to the prices for e-vignettes: for cars, the annual vignette costs 110 euros, 30 euros for one month and 15 euros for 7 days. However, there is also good news: Tolls are no longer levied on the A7 between the French border and Barcelona, which is also popular with tourists, and the toll systems are currently being demolished.
