Spain extends Moves III programme retroactively

Moves III offers subsidies for individuals who purchase an electric car of up to 7,000 euros. Subsidies of up to 9,000 euros are available for commercial vehicles. The Spanish government has earmarked an additional 400 million euros to fund the scheme. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MITECO), it wants to ensure “that no vehicle purchase or charging station installation is left without support.”

The subsidy programme officially ran out at the end of 2024. At the time, Spain said it was working on a successor and that it wanted to iron out structural weaknesses. With the old structure, some people had to wait up to two years before receiving the actual payment. However, the government was behind schedule due to the catastrophic floods in the country. Now it seems, they are content to stick with the old programme for the rest of the year.

Moves III launched in 2021 and expanded by 400 million euros in December 2022 to a total budget of 1.2 billion euros. With further increases in 2024 (1.55 billion euros) and the now added 400 million euros, the funds allocated to Moves III have increased to 1.735 billion euros.

The subsidy amounts are staggered as follows: Battery-electric and hydrogen cars and plug-in hybrids with an electric range of more than 90 kilometres are subsidised with up to 7,000 euros, as mentioned above. PHEVs with an electric range of 30 to 90 kilometres are still eligible for up to 5,000 euros. Commercial vehicles (BEV, FCEV or PHEV) qualify for subsidies of up to 9,000 euros. Lower subsidy rates also apply to electric motorbikes, tricycles and light electric vehicles.

In addition, the tax break for electric cars introduced in 2023 will also be extended. It applies to private individuals and includes a deduction of 15 per cent of income tax on the purchase of electric vehicles. The maximum deduction that can be claimed from the time of the electric car purchase is 20,000 euros.

The Spanish government amended Moves III in June 2023. Since then, used vehicles with a maximum age of twelve months have also been eligible. Another new aspect was the change to the maximum number of subsidised vehicles per applicant, which rose from 50 to 250 units to encourage the renewal of public and commercial fleets. Dealers can also sell more demonstration vehicles.

miteco.gob.es (in Spanish), euroweeklynews.com