Spain ups stakes for scrapping old cars and funding EVs

Spain’s government is working on the new edition of its eMobility subsidy program MOVES for 2020, and although the details are not to be officially published until the end of May (beginning of June at the latest), some information has already been leaked.

For example, the budget for the subsidy programme this year is set to be 65 million euros, 20 million euros more than in 2019. According to the draft of the plan, the maximum premium is to remain at 5,500 euros for purely electric vehicles, provided that a combustion engine that is at least ten years old is decommissioned in return.

However, the Spanish government is apparently considering making the latter optional. This means that the decommissioning of an old combustion engine vehicle would no longer be obligatory in order to benefit from the premium for electric cars and other vehicles, unlike the current situation. Without scrapping an old ICE vehicle, the amount for an electric car would be a maximum of 4,000 euros, and for scrapping a fossil-fuelled car and buying an electric car, the amount would be 5,500 euros. This is apparently the authorities’ reaction to a practical problem: Until now, the old car had to be scrapped when the electric car was purchased, but it can take several months before the new car is delivered.

As in 2019, the new edition of MOVES will also include subsidies for the charging infrastructure, electric two-wheelers and commercial vehicles. However, there is no new information about the amount of these subsidies in the current reports. It is also open whether and how plug-in hybrids will continue to be subsidised.

For electric cars, there is to be a new price cap: according to Spanish media reports, electric cars up to a sales price of 45,000 euros are to be eligible for subsidies, whereas previously the maximum was 40,000 euros. In addition, leased vehicles are also to be eligible. The Tesla Model 3 would thus still not be eligible, the SR+ variant would cost at least 49,000 euros in Spain. A BMW i3 was already below the old limit at 39,950 euros. In the case of the Hyundai Kona Elektro, the top equipment of the 150-kW model is above the 45,000 euro limit, other equipment below it – so it depends on the details of the regulation whether the respective model or only its basic variant is used.

Although the government in Madrid provides the budget, it is the regional governments that are responsible for allocating it – they are allocated part of the budget in proportion to their population. In the regulation for 2020, the regional governments are also to be given more freedom in allocation. They should also be able to pay an advance to applicants so that they can make the investment in the electric vehicles in the first place.

The National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) stipulates that at least five million electric vehicles should be registered in 2030. The promotion is to end on 31.12.2020 at the latest, or when the budget is exhausted. This was not the case in 2019 when subsidies were possible until the end of the year but still with the aforementioned obligation to scrap.

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