direct aid for the purchase of electric cars with doubts to clear up

New year, new help. That is what the Government has presented with the Auto Plus Plana project that replaces the MOVES III Plan and the discomfort with which the consumer has encountered until now if he wanted to receive aid to buy an electric or plug-in hybrid car.

The aid plan is part of the Spain Auto 2030 Plana broader and more ambitious project in which 300 million euros in aid are also contemplated to promote the installation of charging points and the confirmation that another 580 million euros will be available to launch industrial activities with the PERTE VEC designed to promote the production of vehicles and automotive-related components in our country.

Regarding aid, the Government will make up to 400 million euros available to buyers starting next January 1, 2026. It will do so with direct intervention in them, so this time the budget will not go through the Autonomous Communities, one of the main criticisms that consumers and manufacturers have been making for some time.

What can we expect from the new Auto Plus Plan

With almost two years of delay, it seems that we finally have a date for the electric car buyer in Spain to receive a discount just at the time of formalizing the purchase of the vehicle.

And it is that in February 2024the Government committed to having this new deal available in the next aid package to be approved. In December of that year, without reaching an agreement, the Executive confirmed that MOVES III Plan funds were expanded with the same conditions as until now. In January 2025 the scare came: the omnibus decree that contemplated aid fell and the funds with him. days later would be reactivated with a new vote in the Congress of Deputies.

Now, the Government assures that from January 1, 2026buyers of an electric car will have the funds available at the time of purchase. That is, at the promotional price they can discount the help they should receive for buying an electric or plug-in hybrid car.

The presentation has not mentioned what the discounts will be, which, until now, are the following:

• Electric cars and plug-in hybrids with 90 or more kilometers of autonomy: 4,500 euros guaranteed discount and an additional 2,500 euros if a car that is more than seven years old is scrapped.
• Plug-in hybrid cars with more than 30 and less than 90 kilometers of autonomy: 2,500 euros guaranteed discount and an additional 2,500 euros if a car that is more than seven years old is scrapped.

It has also not been confirmed if these aids will be available for kilometer 0 and pre-owned cars, a modification that applies from 2023. Or the price ceiling to which these aids are applied, which, until now, has been 45,000 euros before the application of VAT.

What is certain is that the funds will not be transferred to the Autonomous Communities, such as It had been happening with the successive MOVES Plan. In that case, each region received some funds, which caused a buyer to find that their Autonomous Community lacked them and in other cases there was availability.

But, also, bureaucratic obstacles are eliminated that required documentation to be presented in each region in a different way (in some areas it was mandatory for the beneficiary to present it and in others it was allowed for the concessionaire to manage it). Likewise, waiting times to receive aid should be completely eliminated, in some cases reaching 18 months and which have taken manufacturers to advance aid to the buyer with credits of up to 7,000 euros at 0% that had to be returned as part of a last installment or an intermediate installment after 18 months.

Photo | European Union on Wikimedia

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