NEW YORK – CNNMoney reports that the German government is joining forces with BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen to urge consumers to buy more electric vehicles and hybrids.

Through a new incentive program, buyers will receive rebates of 4,000 euros on EVs and 3,000 euros ($4,500) for plug-in hybrids, up to a total of 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion). The government will put up half the money and the automakers will make up the rest, notes the news source.

Germany has a lower proportion of EVs than other large European countries, such as the U.K., France, Italy and Spain. The incentives “are designed to encourage drivers to swap to greener cars and boost the production of electric cars in Germany,” writes CNNMoney.

"Germany has been lagging behind other big European markets because they didn't offer any incentives...now they will be able to catch up," Al Bedwell, an autos expert at LMC Automotive, told the news source.

Currently there are about 50,000 EVs on the roads in Germany, a number that could reach 400,000 if the program takes off. Germany’s goal is to have 1 million EVs on the roads by 2020, and 5 million by 2030. However, experts say that target may be a stretch.

"The plan seemed overly ambitious...they left it until too late to introduce the incentives," Bedwell noted.

The German government is also planning to spend 300 million euros improving related infrastructure and build 15,000 new EV charging stations in the next three years, notes the news source.