Spanish MOVES Plan slashes NGV funds in favour of electric mobility

Unlike the previous two iterations, most natural gas vehicles have been excluded from the incentive scheme.

Spain’s Council of Ministers approved on February 15 a proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition to regulate the funds programme for efficient and sustainable mobility (MOVES Program). The programme, with a budget of €45 million, is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and will be jointly managed by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE).

The MOVES program includes aid for the construction of infrastructure for recharging electric vehicles both for private use, non-residential public and business, as well as rental systems for electric bicycles, with a limit of 100,000 euros.

The Decree states that vehicles M1, N1, M2 and M3 powered by natural gas are excluded from the program. Class N2 (light trucks or lorries) and N3 (trucks) vehicles powered by CNG or LNG, including bi-fuel and dual-fuel vehicles, are still eligible for support. However, the amount of funding for this vehicle group has been drastically reduced.

“Although plans to promote the demand for alternative energy vehicles, such as the MOVEA and MOVALT Plans, have encouraged the acquisition of LPG and NG light vehicles, the market situation, with a price equalization of these technologies with traditional combustion vehicles, coupled with a better use of public resources, means that in the present MOVES plan natural gas vehicle acquisition is not supported. However, it is recognised that these vehicles have a significant role in the transition period to a zero emissions fleet, especially with regard to pollution in cities," the Royal Decree 72/2019 states.