Starting from February 5, not private individuals but corporations and sole proprietors can apply for the Széchenyi Terv Plusz non-repayable grant, which offers up to four million forints to support the acquisition of purely electric vehicles. Heavily anticipated interest could lead to system overload this Monday when the application period opens. The program, financed by the EU with a budget of 30 billion forints, aims to boost the domestic EV market, with expectations to see over 9,000 electric vehicles cars, minibuses, and vans in the hands of Hungarian-based or branch-operated European companies, cooperatives, and individual entrepreneurs by March 31, 2025.

However, some conditions attached to the subsidy are less attractive, such as the requirement for a comprehensive casco insurance for the subsidized EV that must remain valid throughout the maintenance period. The vehicle cannot be sold, rented out, put to use by others, or withdrawn from traffic within three years of grant approval, extendable up to December 31, 2027.

For example, the annual comprehensive casco insurance for a company-registered Hyundai Kona Electric (64 kWh), one of the most affordable EVs, would cost approximately 750,000 forints with a Bonus 6 rating. The premium for a Tesla Model Y could be around 1.1 million forints, whereas the most economical casco for a BYD Seal could be even higher. It is worth noting that insurance rates for electric cars are typically higher than those for internal combustion engine vehicles.

Thus, those who intended to avoid the additional casco insurance expense might find the subsidy less appealing when considering the potential multi-million forint overhead calculated over three years.

Another complexity arises from the program's stipulation that the vehicle must be purchased within 20 months after the grant is awarded. However, financial leasing products with such a short term are unavailable from service providers, making it impractical to execute and consequently eliminating the possibility of claiming back the value-added tax (VAT). This is a significant setback since the amount of reclaimable VAT could compete with the sum obtainable from the grant.

Moreover, a peculiar coincidence has been observed with the grant announcement aligning with the commencement of BYD vehicle sales in Hungary. This, alongside Tesla's opaque battery capacity information (recently rectified on their website) and their unconventional sales process akin to ordering a pizza, could potentially disadvantage Tesla in the application process.