Germany will offer green car buyers the prospect of free parking as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government seeks to have 1 million electric vehicles on German roads by 2020, from about 21,000 at the start of the year.

The German cabinet today backed a bill that would enable municipalities to offer drivers of battery-powered cars, fuel cell vehicles and some plug-in hybrids privileges including parking and the right to use bus lanes, the Environment Ministry said in a statement.