The environmental party invests in ethanol - wants to give bonus to those who rebuild the car

For a couple of years in the early 2000s, the E85 propellant, which consists of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, was a success story. In 2008-2010, almost every fourth car was sold an ethanol car thanks to tax relief and the so-called pumping law.

However, as politicians removed the financial incentives, sales of ethanol cars declined rapidly, despite the fact that E85 is becoming increasingly environmentally friendly.

So, the Environment Party now proposes introducing a rebuild bonus for petrol cars that become environmental cars. If the proposal becomes a reality, this means, among other things, that a direct support will be introduced for half the cost up to a maximum of SEK 5,000 for the procedure, which will take about three hours.

- We think it is time that the cars that are now dependent on fossil fuels can be remodeled and become part of renewable Sweden, says the Environment Party's spokesman Per Bolund.

How big is the chance that the Social Democrats will agree to this?

- I think there is a great opportunity to get a broad consensus on this issue.

The proposal also means that a subsidy of half of the cost will be introduced up to a maximum of SEK 20,000 to be converted into biogas operations. Both procedures take 2-3 hours according to the Environment Party.

The proposal is inspired by France, which both gives a bonus on the vehicle tax when petrol cars are converted to ethanol, and has a premium of almost SEK 11,000 when older cars are converted or replaced with new environmental cars.

According to Per Bolund, the proposal will also generate money and new employment in the engineering industry.

- This gives us the opportunity for a new industry, he says.

In 2015, you introduced an ethanol tax that made E85 the most expensive fuel to drive, why should car owners trust you this time?

- We have removed the tax on ethanol, precisely because it significantly reduces the environmental impact. This is a fairly easy process and with this proposal we pay half the cost. This is not a big effort and in addition you can drive cheaper in the future. It should be easy to do right.

See the entire interview with Per Bolund in the clip above.