The THG-Quota obliges mineral oil companies to steadily reduce CO2 emissions. The current rate is 7% and is expected to increase to 25% by 2030. By owning an electric vehicle, owners save CO2 emissions every year. Only fully electric cars with battery drive (BEV) as well as electric motorbikes and scooters are taken into account; plug-in hybrids are excluded from the reward.

The THG-Quota is credited via specialised companies that act as intermediaries. To receive the reward, vehicle owners have to register their electric vehicles and upload a copy of the vehicle registration certificate. The intermediary checks the documents and forwards the bundled requests to the Federal Environment Agency, which issues the environmental certificates. In the next step, these are sold to companies that are subject to quotas in order to achieve the highest possible profit for vehicle owners.

The legal basis for the THG-Quota is derived from the Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz (§37 a-c). Since January 2022, private and commercial owners of an electric vehicle can contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions by selling their THG-Quota share. This reward is available once per year for fully electric vehicles, such as e-cars and e-scooters.

It is important that you choose the intermediary carefully and check the General Terms and Conditions (GTC). Some service providers allow for a more sustainable use of the reward by reinvesting a partial or full amount in sustainable projects.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the bonus is taxable according to §22 (3) EStG if the exemption limit (2022: € 255) is exceeded. If you donate the remaining amount as a sustainable impact contribution, you can stay under this exemption limit.

Switching to electrically powered vehicles not only contributes to the sustainable mobility transformation, but can also be accompanied by subsidies and rewards for vehicle owners. This is not greenwashing, but a targeted support of the mobility transformation.

Our partner fairnergy acts as an intermediary between vehicle owners and the Federal Environment Agency. This not only guarantees vehicle owners a fair reward with minimal effort, but also makes a contribution to energy justice. The year, fairnergy collects compulsory levies from the petroleum industry for registered owners. Of this, a fixed amount of €15 goes to fairnergy partners such as CoBenefit. The full amount is divided into three areas: 19% are used to cover fairnergy's internal costs, 6% are invested in projects for energy justice, and 75% are payed out to the vehicle owners. The share of the owners can either be invested in the promotion of sustainable projects or paid out in cash.