Germany's electric car grant has now approved 97,790 vehicles, and for the first time since the scheme opened, Tesla is not in the top two.
The Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle publishes the running totals monthly. At the 1 October 2026 cut, Stellantis has moved past Tesla into second place at corporate-group level. The Tesla position TeslAnt described a month ago — second place, but losing ground on it — has now actually been lost.
Where the approvals stand
| Group | Approvals | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen Group | 20,624 | 21.1% |
| Stellantis | 13,670 | 14.0% |
| Tesla | 12,155 | 12.4% |
| Hyundai Motor Group | 10,415 | 10.7% |
| Renault Group | 8,396 | 8.6% |
| BMW Group | 6,085 | 6.2% |
| BYD | 5,814 | 5.9% |
| All applicants | 97,790 | 100% |
The Leapmotor joint venture is counted separately in the BAFA breakdown, on 5,816.
The reason is growth rate, not decline
Tesla's absolute number went up. It approved 8,141 cars at the 1 September cut and 12,155 at 1 October, a gain of 4,014 and a rise of 49%. The problem is that the scheme itself grew 86% over the same month, from 52,473 approvals to 97,790, and Stellantis grew 83%.
A brand that grows more slowly than the programme funding it loses share by arithmetic. Tesla's slice has fallen from 15.5% on 1 September to 12.4% on 1 October. That is the second consecutive month it has undergrown the scheme, and this time the gap was wide enough to cost it a place.
The Model Y is still the most-subsidised car in Germany
| Model | Approvals |
|---|---|
| Tesla Model Y | 8,297 |
| Škoda Elroq | 5,478 |
| Tesla Model 3 | 3,845 |
The Model Y has led this ranking at every monthly cut since the grant opened, and it is built at Grünheide for the European market. The Model 3 in third place is supplied from Fremont and Shanghai — the same split that matters to Berlin's debate about tying the grant to European production.
Tesla also still leads the ranking by brand, on 12,155 against Škoda's 7,224 and Cupra's 6,229. Both things are true at once because Tesla is a single-brand group: the same 12,155 cars that win the brand table only reach third in the group table, where Volkswagen can add Škoda, Cupra and its own marques together.
The money behind it
About 432 million euros had been committed by 1 October, against 230 million a month earlier and 117 million on 1 August. The average grant is 4,418 euros per household, inside a band that runs from 1,500 to 6,000 euros depending on income and household size. Battery-electric cars took 91.6% of approvals and plug-in hybrids 8.4%.
The envelope is 3 billion euros running to 2029, which the environment ministry expects to cover roughly 800,000 cars. At the current rate the scheme is spending faster than that profile implies.
What it means for a buyer in Europe's biggest EV market
Nothing about eligibility has changed, and the Model Y remains the car German buyers most often claim the grant against. What has changed is the competitive picture around it: the cheap-small-car segment the grant rewards is where Tesla is weakest, which is the same structural point DIW Berlin made when it judged the industrial-policy effect limited. Stellantis overtaking Tesla is that argument showing up in the monthly totals.