On one hand, the ecotax for cars with carbon dioxide emissions above 160 grammes per kilometre; on the other, the ecobonus for vehicles that emit up to 70 g/km: this is the content of the 2019 budget law, which came into force on 1 January and will apply to car purchases from 1 March (through to 31 December 2021). Choosing an eco-friendly car — hybrid, electric or natural gas — thus becomes an appealing prospect, not only from an environmental conscience standpoint, but also from a financial one.

How the ecobonus works

How are the incentives regulated? The maximum spending cap for a car is €50,000 excluding VAT, and provides a discount of €4,000 for the purchase of a vehicle with CO2 emissions of 0 to 20 g/km, or a discount of €1,500 for a car emitting 21 to 70 g of CO2 per km. The state contribution increases further in the event of scrapping an old car, rising to €6,000 and €2,500 respectively. So which models can benefit from the ecobonus?

The discounted models

Among the standard versions (since some optional extras could alter CO2 emission levels), the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid is also included. The latter, thanks to its new plug-in system based on fourth-generation Full Hybrid technology, minimises the use of the combustion engine and makes it possible to travel in EV mode more frequently for over 50 km, while engine performance has been improved by 83 per cent. Charging times have also been improved, so that in just 2 hours the car is ready to be used again (incidentally, the law also facilitates the purchase of charging points and meter power increases of up to 7 kW, with a 50 per cent contribution towards installation costs up to a maximum of €3,000 over 10 years). The Prius's fuel consumption? Very low: up to 1 l/100 km and just 22 g/km of CO2 emissions.