Despite having an increasing range of models, the transition of Spaniards to electric vehicles is progressing very slowly, moving away from the rest of Europe, according to the Electromobility Barometer published by the Association of Manufacturers, Anfac.
According to their figures, in the first three months of the year the global indicator that assesses the penetration of electrified vehicles and the installation of public access charging infrastructures with respect to the objective for 2030 according to the Fit for 55 package of measures. has reached a total assessment of 11 points, which represents a growth of only 0.6 points compared to the previous barometer.
From anfac point out that, at the current rate, the target of 190,000 electrified passenger cars necessary to achieve the emission reduction targets for 2023 will not be reached. Specifically, at the end of the first quarter, only 25,447 units were registered, a slow evolution that, if maintained at Throughout 2023, it will be around 100,000 units.
Regarding the national context, Madrid continues to lead the ranking with a total of 27.6 points out of 100 above the national average. As for the rest of the communities, Navarra and Catalonia are in the top positions. Despite the large differences in the progress in the electrification of the market by DC. AA., the improvements observed in the last quarter in La Rioja and the Valencian Community stand out.
The slow progress becomes more visible when compared with European countries, where the average stands at a total of 23.8 points out of 100, with an increase of 1.3 points, and doubling the general evaluation of development compared to Spain.
In the first three months of the year, the electrified vehicle penetration indicator achieved an average assessment of 17.4 points, which represents a growth of 0.5 points. With this score, Spain ranks third from last in the Electromobility Barometer ranking, with values close to 20 points below the European average. On the contrary, the evolution of countries such as the Netherlands (4.9 points), Portugal (3.2 points) and France (2.2 points), which lead the European improvement in the first quarter of 2023, stands out.
In the case of Portugal, thanks to the measures in terms of tax incentives and the promotion of public access charging infrastructure, it has experienced a growth of 1.9 points, which places it close to the European average and far from the queue positions. Likewise, countries such as the Netherlands or France continue to lead and grow above average. While Spain, with more than 10 points below the European average, is at the same level of development as countries like Italy, Hungary or the Czech Republic.
Public access charging points
In the first three months of the year, a score of 4.5 points out of 100 was achieved in the charging infrastructure indicator, which represents an increase of only 6 tenths. Spain is located very far from the rate of development of the European average that manages to grow by 1.3 points, reaching a total valuation of 10.6 points.
The region that presents the best quarterly growth is Cantabria (1.5 points), followed by Castilla y León, Catalonia and Navarra (0.8 points in all three cases).
During the first quarter, there has been a growth of 2,115 new points, being one of the highest quarterly growth rates recorded in the Electromobility Barometer and adding a total of 20,243 charging points throughout Spain. However, 1,537 of these new points are of power up to or below 22 kW, indicating that 73% of new point growth occurs in the low power range.
Of the total existing high-power public access charging points (≥ 250 kW), approximately 85% respond to projects by car manufacturers.
The administrative difficulties associated with the development of these projects are one of the most important barriers today. According to Anfac, the deployment of this type of high-power infrastructure, which allows recharging similar to the refueling experience of an internal combustion vehicle, “is essential for the development of the electric vehicle and an absolute priority for electric mobility with heavy vehicles for the transport of goods and people.
According to José López-Tafall, general director of Anfac, “this slow evolution must be reversed if we want zero-emission mobility in the automotive sector in Spain to take off and become a hub for the new electromobility. Our recipes are well-known: improve the efficiency of aid plans; accelerate the pace of development of public charging infrastructure and create a model for its governance and, above all, establish a fiscal framework that helps citizens and companies to bet on the new mobility“.
The administrative difficulties are reflected, according to the Association’s analysis, in the 6,475 points that are out of service, because they have not been able to connect to the electricity distribution network or because they are in poor condition or damaged.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.