What is putting the brake on electric vehicle sales in Spain?

Anfac, the vehicle manufacturers' association in Spain, has expressed its deep concern about the depletion of funds from the Moves III Plan, the aid scheme for the purchase of electric vehicles, in a total of nine regions across the country.

This situation affects such crucial regions as Andalucía, Aragon, Cantabria, Catalonia, Valencia, Galicia, Madrid, Navarre and the Basque Country. Together, these regions account for 85% of total passenger car (turismos) sales in Spain.

The lack of availability of more funds, especially in high-volume markets like Madrid and Catalonia, is regarded by the industry as an imminent risk of stalling electric vehicle (EV) sales by the end of the year.

"The non-availability of funds in various regions poses a risk of market stagnation that could be reflected [in sales] in this latter part of the year," warned Anfac's director-general, José López-Tafall.

Despite this negative move to withdraw funding in key regions, the market for electrified vehicles in Spain has shown remarkable progress in 2025. According to Anfac data, one in five passenger cars sold up to August was 100% electric or plug-in hybrid.

During the first eight months of the year, EV-type sales grew, but at very different rates depending on vehicle type. Registrations of fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids, with 138,256 sales, have experienced a double-digit increase of 98% compared to the same period in 2024. This notable increase brought the electrification share of the market to 18%, up 7.6%. This figure is higher than the same period last year, with 8.1% being fully electric and 9.9% being plug-in hybrids.

Meanwhile, sales of light commercial and industrial vehicles, although growing, still represent a low volume relative to the total market. While electrified light commercial vehicles recorded a 119% increase from January to August with a total of 10,372 sales, they still only account for 8.4% of the total market, albeit 4.1% more than the previous year.

Turning to the pace of electrification in commercial vehicles (trucks), this remains marginal. During 2025, the electrified industrial vehicle market grew by 12.5%, accounting for 305 sales out of the 18,171 total sales recorded for the year. That represents only 1.7% of the total market for the year. This is also the market that, despite the strict demands for decarbonisation and the obvious criticality of road freight transport for the Spanish economy, has not received any purchase aid from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility since the end of the Moves Pesados programme (an aid scheme for EV-type trucks) that was withdrawn 17 months ago.

This depletion of subsidised aid highlights the gap between Spain and other European markets. With an 18% share of electrified vehicles, the country is below the continental average of 24%. While countries such as Norway (96.3%), Denmark (67.2%) and Sweden (61.4%) have three times the Spanish share, Spain sits with those at the bottom of the list, including Latvia and Estonia.

As of August, 288 electrified passenger car models from the various Anfac member brands have been registered on the market. Specifically, 159 different models of fully electric cars (BEVs) and 129 of plug-in hybrid cars (PHEVs).

Since 2019, the available range of electrified models supplied has quadrupled to the current number. A total of 65 different models of electrified passenger cars (24 BEVs and 41 PHEVs) were sold during the year.

Equally significant is the fact that the supply of EVs belonging to the "small" segment continues to increase, rising from 13 in 2019 to 39 models in 2025. This type of vehicle has more affordable prices that, combined with the application of Moves subsidies and the 15% personal income tax (IRPF) deduction for their purchase, makes it possible to eliminate the engine-type price difference, helping to increase the presence of electric vehicles.

This year has seen an increased presence of BEVs and PHEVs in the smaller segments. This segment typically represents around 40% of total market demand and is important for consolidating and democratising sales. Within the BEV passenger car market, only 18.9% of BEVs sold in 2024 were in this segment, with 74.4% in the mid-size segment. However, as of August 2025, the proportion of BEV passenger cars in the small segment accounted for 38.4% of fully electric sales (23,814).

Anfac has called on the governing bodies to allocate new resources and streamline distribution through a more direct system for consumers, given the positive response to demand.