Government and communities commit to the industry to promote electric mobility now

With the presence of the minister Jordi Hereu, the presidents Salvador Illa, Carlos Mazón and María Chivite, and the president of Seat, Wayne Griffithsthe meeting in Barcelona, ​​promoted by the Spanish automobile company, has served to, at least publicly, reaffirm the commitment of all those involved in electric mobility, something that, for now, as repeatedly denounced by the industry, It is only a solid reality on the part of manufacturers and brands.

Thus, Casa Seat’s statement commits the administration, among other measures, to implementing a tax incentive plan that allows aid to be available for the acquisition of zero-emission cars at the time of purchase. The administration is also committed to implementing a charging infrastructure network that provides security to users, with special attention to the deployment of ultra-fast charging points on major road axes, defining a five-year deployment plan, with annual compliance milestones. Also, the aim is to generalize the electric car in public fleets. The signatories of the declaration will create a stable working group to develop concrete measures to achieve these objectives.

The good intentions are there, but the reality is far from approaching the electric mobility that is aspired to, in line with the European objective of selling only zero-emission vehicles in 2035 and being a climate neutral continent in 2050. As the president of Seat pointed out today, the efforts of the administrations must be at the same level as that of the companies to begin to achieve objectives. «In March 2021 we promised to electrify our company and put Spain on electric wheels. Since then, we have worked hard to make this goal a reality. However, the market is not starting since this year, 25% of the vehicles sold in Europe should be 100% electric and we are halfway there. In Spain we are much further away since we barely exceed 5%, and there is no sign of improvement,” said Wayne Griffiths.

«We are halfway», lamented the president of Seat, who on the other hand has pointed out that Spain still has time to attract new projects if the foundations are laid, something that, in part, the signing of this morning’s declaration should promote. The challenge is to turn Spain into an “electric mobility hub”.

In his speech, the minister Jordi Hereu It has celebrated that governments of different political forces join together on the side of the industrial groups that are committed to Spain.

In general, there is dissatisfaction in the industry with what they consider to be a lack of support from the administration in the development of the electric car. Without going any further, with the non-approval in Congress last week of the ‘omnibus decree’ it has not been possible to apply the extension approved in December Plan Moves III for the purchase of electric vehicles, fuel cells and charging points until June 30, 2025. In addition, the rejection of the ‘omnibus’ decree has also ended the 15% deduction in personal income tax when purchasing a vehicle electricity until December 31, 2025, which was implemented last June. In his speech this morning, Mazón claimed that the suspension of the Moves plan is temporary and that its reinstatement “is not conditioned by political interests.”

There is still a lot of work to do. According to data from Anfac and ACEA, the association of European automotive manufacturers, in 2024 electric passenger cars accounted for only 5.6% of the market share in Spain, very far from the European average which stands at 13. 6%. «Without purchasing aid, as has been demonstrated in other countries of the European Unionsales of electric passenger cars are paralyzed, with the consequent delay in meeting the objectives of decarbonization that mark Spain and the European Union,” they stated last week in a statement.