“The first assessment of the renewal of the Moves III Plan is that we cannot say that it is good news, but it allows us to gain time to address the challenges that were already identified,” admits Fernando Miguélez León, General Manager at Ganvam.
Weeks ago, the long-awaited news about aid for the purchase of electric vehicles became known.
The feedback from the eMobility sector? A somewhat “bitter” taste for continuing to advance on already known bases.
Official announcements confirmed the extension of the MOVES III Plan until December 2024 with an additional 200 million euros to the general state budget.
In addition, funding extensions were made for other eligible initiatives:
- MOVES Corridors with an additional 150 million euros, in the deployment of charging points in TN-T corridors.
- MOVES Fleets with an additional 50 million euros
- Aid for the renewal of 100 per cent heavy electric vehicles with an additional 50 million euros.
The package of measures to support the productive sector, approved by the Council of Ministers in the last week of June, provides the first positive signal to the eMobility sector after a long period of uncertainty.
The issues that generate the most discontent, such as delays in payments, were not addressed, so we are now waiting to see what will be confirmed on January 1, 2025.
“On January 1, 2025, we must have a support formula that promotes the electric and green transition that is different from the one we have with MOVES III,” Miguélez concludes.
For GANVAM, the most important lever is taxation and, to this end, all the actors in the sector, together with the administration, must address it seriously and jointly.
What is holding back the arrival of an “ideal MOVES”?
“The reality is that today the greatest difficulty lies in the development of the plan itself through the autonomous communities,” admits Miguélez.
The Spanish system means that when moving from one autonomous region to another, there are processes and changes that make each operation a different world.
This is where the main challenge for aid for the purchase of electric vehicles lies at the moment.
Likewise, when analysing the Spanish map, it can also be seen that not all of them are progressing at the same pace in the use of available funds.
Catalonia is moving quickly towards the end of the allocated money, while other cases such as La Rioja have not yet finished their allocation and the new amount available is added to the remaining amount.
But all this is not the only factor that distances Spain from an “ideal” tax model.
The political scene has not been able to fully recover since last year.
The advancement of the 2023 general elections, the changes in leadership and now the lack of agreements are also something that distances the country from the possibility of reaching a safe haven in this area.
“The Government and the autonomous communities are facing a complex political moment in terms of bringing forward new formulas that are different from those already known,” the director general of the employers’ association acknowledges in this regard.
Despite this, hope is not lost.
The electromobility sector is confident that progress can be made on the taxation of electric cars during the legislative period, and there is also confidence that spaces for dialogue can be restored.
The automotive roundtable and the roundtable on the deployment of charging points are two meeting points between the public and private sectors that are once again at the top of the list of requests.
But so far there has been no clarity regarding new calls.
“There are no adequate signals in this regard and we can see this in the way that the president of ANFAC has resigned in recent weeks, but we must also admit that each person must make use of his or her experience,” he explains.
Ganvam hand in hand with the Government
The same day that the news of the extension of the Moves was made public, GANVAM found itself face to face with the Secretary of Industry, Rebeca Torro.
There, the announcements regarding aid were made first-hand, but employers were also able to express their needs and point of view regarding the eMobility transition.
The meeting behind closed doors was attended by the head of the association, the official and a small team.
A position in favour of change and improvement of incentive systems has been made clear on the table.
Moreover, this position is clear outside of that meeting, as various officials have made it clear that the ideal equation was “direct aid.”
The direction to follow is therefore clear, but at the moment words are far from actions.
Subsidies remain indirect, five-year-old used cars are still not included and payment delays continue to range between nine and twelve months.
The inclusion of those used in the MOVES schemes
“We reiterate what we have said, we must take advantage of having a support system not only for electrification, but also for rejuvenating the fleet. And this can only be done by including used vehicles up to five years old,” Miguélez points out.
Ganvam once again places the possibility of incorporating 100 per cent used electric vehicles into subsidy systems at the centre of discussions.
The reduction in this type of segment would allow, from the employers’ perspective, to reach the renewal objective in a much faster manner.
Furthermore, during the 2007 financial crisis, this formula had already been viewed favourably and was able to sneak into vehicle renewal plans, but over time it was left out of the strategy.
However, so far only cars up to 12 months old are covered by MOVES aid, a reform introduced in recent years.
