Bond Trader Owes His €70,000 BMW EV to a Belgian Tax Perk

When Ronald van Steenweghen leaves his home near picturesque Leuven for a 40-minute commute to Brussels, his employer effectively foots the bill, including the cost of his electric-powered SUV from BMW.

Like hundreds of thousands of other Belgians, van Steenweghen benefits from a tax perk that has made company cars the biggest segment of the country’s auto market — accounting for about two-thirds of annual new-car sales.

Until two years ago, that policy incentivized big, polluting cars, but a change has transformed Belgium into the European Union’s third-largest electric-vehicle market almost overnight, even though private demand remains below average.

“I ...