THG quota & THG premium: money for your EV that many owners miss out on

In short

The THG quota (greenhouse-gas reduction quota) obliges mineral-oil companies to reduce the CO₂ emissions of their fuels year by year. EV owners are an important part of the mechanism — because your CO₂ advantage has a price: as the THG premium, today around 300 euros per vehicle and year are paid back.

1. What is the THG quota?

The THG quota is a climate-protection instrument that has applied in Germany since 2015 (legal basis: § 37a BImSchG). It obliges companies that place fossil petrol and diesel fuels onto the market to reduce the greenhouse-gas emissions of their fuels each year by a legislatively fixed percentage.

The reduction obligation rises in steps: in 2026 it stands at 12.0 % compared with the reference value of fossil fuels and grows to 26.5 % by 2030. Whoever misses the quota must pay a compensation levy of 600 euros per tonne of CO₂ — that is simply too expensive for the mineral-oil companies. That's why they prefer to buy the certificates of other market participants.

*Percentage of the greenhouse-gas reduction relative to the reference value in § 37a BImSchG (as of 2026); the statutory level rises every year.

2. How the mechanism works

Mineral-oil companies can fulfil their obligation in two ways: they blend in biofuels — or they buy certificates from the THG quota trading system. These certificates arise from documented CO₂ savings of other market participants. This is exactly where your EV comes into play.

  1. Certification: owners of pure battery-electric vehicles (classes M1/M2 with a German registration) can have their CO₂ savings certified at the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). Plug-in hybrids cannot be counted.
  2. Bundling: the certificates are collected by a marketer and sold as a portfolio to mineral-oil companies.
  3. Payout: the proceeds, after deduction of the commission, flow back to the EV owners — the THG premium.

Thank you for driving an EV

You're not only saving CO₂ — you're generating a reduction volume that companies would buy from you for 600 euros per tonne CO₂-equivalent. Whoever doesn't trade in the quota system simply leaves that money on the table — with one exception, see below.

3. THG premium: what you get out of it

As an EV owner you currently receive typically around 300 euros per year from the quota trading system — for tax purposes: for the general public the THG premium is tax-free; with commercial use (company car, fleet) it is subject to income tax or corporate tax.

Per vehicle and quota year, the credit may be claimed only once — not per charge, not per year, but per quota year and owner. Whoever holds more vehicles (and uses them commercially) can of course bundle the volumes.

Practical tip

The certificates are not "on the account": they must be actively sold or brokered. That's exactly where we step in — more on that below.

4. Who is entitled?

✅

Eligible

Pure battery-electric vehicles of the classes M1 (cars) and M2 (small buses) with a German registration — also under commercial use.

❌

Not entitled

Plug-in hybrids, vehicles with a foreign registration, and small vehicles that don't require registration (no estimated value available).

💼

Commercial = taxable

Company cars and fleets: the THG premium is income received and is subject to tax.

🔁

Once per quota year

Per vehicle and owner, the same quota year can be claimed only once.

5. What LadeGuide does with it

As an EV owner, you know this: you drive CO₂-free, you pay your charging costs diligently — and the THG premium still never arrives. That's why we are building a marketing service at LadeGuide that bundles your THG certificates, sells them in the quota trading system, and pays you the proceeds directly — without any detours through individual marketers and their commissions.

The LadeGuide app is in development and will be available soon. Whoever wants to be part of it when the service launches simply joins the waitlist.

Your THG premium — bundled, sold, paid out

LadeGuide bundles your certificates and sells them in the quota trading system — so a larger share of the around 300 euros per year reaches you. The app is in development: join the waitlist now.

Join the waitlist

Sources

  1. Federal Environment Agency (UBA) — implementation of 38. BImSchV: crediting of electricity for electric vehicles ( umweltbundesamt.de).
  2. Zoll.de — Quota level of the THG quota under § 37a BImSchG.
  3. Bundestag draft 20/12735 — evaluation report on the greenhouse-gas reduction quota (compensation levy of 600 euros per tonne of CO₂).