Cyprus’s electric vehicle subsidy program has exhausted its available grants only days after opening, the Department of Road Transport announced. Applications under the scheme, relaunched on June 30 with redistributed funding, were so high in demand that the online application portal has already closed. Authorities clarified that additional grants are expected to be made available soon through further financing, with details on the reopening of the application system and the number of new subsidies to be published in a forthcoming announcement.

At the same time, the Cyprus Association of Importers of Motor and Electric Vehicles (SEMIHO), part of the Employers and Industrialists Federation, expressed deep concern about the program’s shortcomings. SEMIHO described the €2.5 million budget as inadequate, arguing it could only support a small fraction of citizens interested in switching to electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Following an emergency board meeting, SEMIHO put forward a series of proposals to make the scheme more effective. These include raising the budget significantly to help reach Cyprus’s 2030 target of registering 80,000 zero-emission vehicles, and establishing a permanent, predictable grant mechanism instead of intermittent schemes prone to delays and suspensions.

The association also suggested reinstating commercial vehicles (category N1) under the eligible groups, pointing to their substantial emissions, and extending the tight vehicle registration deadline beyond October 31, 2025. According to SEMIHO, the current timeline is unrealistic and risks repeating failures seen in previous rounds of the program.

Further, SEMIHO argued that grants should be reserved for new vehicles only, highlighting that many used vehicles have already received subsidies in their country of first registration, creating an unfair double-subsidy issue if imported. While acknowledging that not all citizens can afford a new car, SEMIHO emphasized that vehicles on Cyprus’s roads should meet the latest European safety standards.

“The successful transition to electromobility cannot rely on fragmented and insufficient plans,” SEMIHO concluded, calling on the government to show consistency, stability, and substantial support.