The MOVES III Plan in Danger. The Diesel Tax Could Be the Solution

Once again, the MOVES III Plan. If you remember, our country ran out of subsidies for the purchase of electric cars temporarily at the beginning of this year. There was quite a stir, all due to the famous omnibus decree, but those subsidies were eventually recovered with retroactive effect.

However, that extra 400 million euros for the Autonomous Communities to distribute up to 7,000 euros in subsidies for the purchase of an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle is coming to an end.

Nine regions have already reported that they have exhausted their funds, according to ANFAC: Andalusia, Aragon, Cantabria, Catalonia, Valencia Community, Galicia, Madrid, Navarra, and Basque Country, which represented 85 percent of the sales of this type of vehicle. The situation in Madrid and Catalonia, which account for the largest share of sales, is particularly concerning.

There is concern in the sector, as sales of electric cars could be slowed down by the end of 2025. And more so because the solutions to turn the situation around do not seem easy at all.

Spain Needs "Great National Agreements"

No one can deny that the economic, political, and social situation is not ideal, which leads us to see confrontations between our leaders day in and day out. Achieving great agreements that benefit citizens is becoming increasingly complicated, which invites us to think that it will not be so easy to push forward more subsidies for the purchase of electric cars.

During the recent electric vehicle fair in Madrid (VEM), the Secretary of State for Energy, Joan Groizard, hinted at the recipe to boost electromobility in our country again. "Spain needs a mobilization of public funds that requires great national agreements. We need all administrations and the entire parliamentary spectrum," he said in statements reported by La Tribuna de Automoción.

Groizard asserts that Spain must enter a new phase: "The next step is to move from an incentivizing subsidy scheme to an appropriate taxation of electric vehicles". Does this mean we will no longer see a MOVES Plan as we have until now? Of course, for that, agreements are needed, something that seems complicated in the current scenario.

"The Government needs a broad social, business, and Congressional majority that allows us to raise resources to finance those schemes and a scheme that provides adequate incentives for electric vehicles".

It has become evident that the injection of 400 million euros in the last call of the MOVES III Plan has fallen short, as they have been exhausted in most communities before the first half of the year. But for now, there are no truly viable measures in sight.

The Diesel Tax Back in the Spotlight

Well, in reality, there is one measure that could solve this problem in one fell swoop, and it has to do with the diesel tax that Europe demanded for Spain but was not implemented. Mainly because this measure did not receive the necessary parliamentary support.

"There is room in diesel taxation, but it is not possible. If it had been voted in favor, the State would be collecting 1 billion, and part of this could go to electric vehicles," assured Joan Groizard. What seems clear is that, in the current context and with the paralysis of the General State Budgets, there are difficulties in finding the money that can continue to cover the MOVES.

The Government refuses to cut funds from other matters, so the measure of a new measure to finance it, like the diesel tax, or moving to a model of tax advantages for buyers may be the most immediate future we see in Spain. The Government itself has already stated: the diesel tax had nothing to do with ecology, but with money.

Fuente: La Tribuna de Automoción