Unlike olive oil, aid for electric cars will remain the same until December, without correcting ‘errors’

The sector’s concern about whether or not the Moves III Plan would continue from July has been softened with the announcement by the Government of Spain, which has made public the extension of aid for the purchase of electric cars until the end of this year, 2024.

Although it relaxes the whole people in a certain way, car industryThe truth is that there are also complaints about the way it is done, as it is simply extending its life a few more months, but it does not change anything that, according to some of those involved in the sector, does not work.

The Moves III Plan is extended, but without the changes it ‘needs’

And although these state incentives launched their first version in 2021 and have been adapted in certain aspects to the needs of dealersthe truth is that there are still very important details to be polished, which make the main players in the automotive industry ensure that “the program is insufficient” and, ultimately, that there is no fair support for electric cars in Spain.

One of the harshest criticisms came from Wayne Griffiths, CEO of Seat and Cupra, who resigned as president of the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (ANFAC) just a few days ago, as a way of sending a clear message to the Government, which is accused of not acting effectively in the face of the situation that the four-wheel sector is experiencing.

One of the changes that the representatives of the sector requested in the renewal of the Moves III Plan was remove VAT on electric vehiclessomething that was ultimately not taken into consideration. A practice that will be applied to basic foods such as bread, eggs, vegetables and fruit, for which this type of tax will not have to be paid.

In the case of oil, until September 30 the VAT will be 0, to rise to 2% between October 1 and December 31, and from then on it will grow to 4%, once the rates return to the same level. normal, instead of the usual 10%.

Without this advantage for electric vehicles, everything remains as it is now, which amounts to a subsidy of 4,500 euros on the purchase of electric cars up to a price of 45,000 euros (excluding taxes), and up to 7,000 euros in the case of scrapping another vehicle that is at least seven years old. As for plug-in hybrid cars, the aid under normal conditions is 2,500 euros, and 5,000 euros with scrapping.

They add up to a total of 200 million euros extraaccording to IDAE, with another contribution of 50 million euros just for trucks, which already amounts to a budget of 1.4 billion euros without counting all the programs and their extensions.

In the funds of the different Spanish communities there are still more than 100 million euros to distribute in terms of aid for the purchase of electric vehicles, although it is still much less than the initial 400 million euros taken from European funds for the first Plan Moves, back in 2021.

Aid takes too long to arrive

Another important problem regarding these state incentives is that aid is not direct and, from the moment of applying for them, a year or more can pass. This means that the client has to advance up to 7,000 euros of aid, and wait for the competent authority to approve it, before it reaches the applicant’s current account.

This is another issue that has not been resolved, which is why some manufacturers will continue to advance the aid themselves, so that it is not the customer who has to bear this cost, as Renault recently announced for purchases after 1 July.

And it is also worth remembering that in the Statement of income The aid will be reflected the following year after the purchase, of which around 20% will have to be returned, depending on the income, assets and other considerations of the person who has received the aid. On the other hand, it is possible to deduct up to 15% of personal income tax.

Thus, the current situation of the automobile market in Spain is that The purchase of electric cars is not progressing according to expectations and the objectives sought from Europe. The quota of zero-emission vehicles has stagnated since January, taking into account that during the first five months of 2024 sales of this type of automobile have decreased by 4.87%, compared to the same period last year.