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For the last four months, state aid for the purchase of electric vehicles in Spain has been paralysed after the omnibus decree was rejected in congress. The national ministry of ecological transition had announced that it would bring back the Moves plan, but it was not until this Tuesday that the minister, Sara Aagesen, launched the third call for applications under this plan. The budget for this plan makes 400 million euros of aid available for the purchase of electric vehicles until 31 December 2025.
The aid plan is also backdated to 1 January, so all electric vehicles (EVs) purchased in these first four months of 2025 can also benefit if the owners apply for it. This was the main complaint of the industry that, given the uncertainty as to when and under what conditions these subsidies would be approved, had seen sales fall in the first quarter of the year. Minister Aagesen announced that Moves III also includes "simplification in the processing" of this aid, which she acknowledged was a "request from the sector and consumers", who will now be able to obtain the aid more swiftly.
This programme envisages providing aid for passenger vehicles of up to 4,500 euros per vehicle, which may rise to 7,000 euros in cases where the scrapping of another, non-electric car is involved. In December last year the Spanish government had decided to extend the Moves III plan until 30 June 2025, but now the minister is giving "certainty" to consumers and announcing the extension of the plan until 31 December after holding back during these first four months of the current year.
To sum up, to date the Moves plan has helped vehicle owners in Spain purchase 140,000 electric vehicles and has installed "more than 113,000 charging points." In the same vein, the minister reported on the creation of a working group aimed specifically at developing an improved EV-recharging infrastructure. Its members have been summoned to a meeting on Monday next week to report on "the latest advances."
The automotive sector has been calling for months for aid to boost demand for electric vehicles, which last year closed in Spain with an 8% market share, according to Anfac (the Spanish association of vehicle manufacturers). Sales of EVs have grown significantly in the first quarter, close to 40,000 units sold, 47% more than in the first three months of last year. However, Anfac's communication and marketing director, Félix García, explained to SUR that this growth "is due to the arrival on the market of more affordable models together with the delivery of vehicles sold at the end of 2024." García pointed out that there are many models that are not delivered on the spot, rather there is a "time lag between placing an order, manufacture and delivery." Anfac's spokesperson is confident that this announcement of the Moves III Plan will boost sales of electrified models and "we will get closer to the target of 100,000 electric vehicle sales by 2025."
From the vehicle vendors' association (Ganvam), the reactivation of Moves with the backdating to 1 January is regarded as a "positive" step as it "instils immediate confidence in buyers", although Gancam's president, Gerardo Cabañas, urges the government leaders to continue reviewing the approach of the aid programmes to ensure their effectiveness.
Ganvam considers this to be a "good transitional solution" because it is happening "in a context in which not only is the rate of electrification insufficient to meet the targets, but also the fleet is ageing". This association advocates a plan for "centralised management of demand incentives that, with direct, tax-free aid and respecting the principle of technological neutrality, will help to remove the oldest and most polluting models from circulation."
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