“We haven’t made any progress.” “We have lost a year.” “We are in the same installments as in March 2023.” These are some of the expressions with which the Anfac vehicle manufacturers association describes the current situation regarding the electric car. Sales of these vehicles and production in Spanish plants have fallen at the start of the year for the first time since the EU began to bet on technological change. For the moment what happened is just a blip or at most a teenage crisis, but the impression is spreading in the sector that the take-off of the electric car continues to need fuel. “If this continues, we will be really worried in May,” they add from Anfac.
Data from the consulting firm Ideauto, which follows car registrations day by day, show that in April, until the 25th, electric sales have fallen by 4.2%. If there is no recovery, the data will be added to the decline in March in the marketing of electrified cars – electric and plug-in hybrids – which was 9.1%. In the case of pure electric vehicles, the decrease was 12%.
These falls occur in the emerging segment of the market, which is set to grow by double digits to progressively take share away from combustion cars. The 2023 financial year closed with a percentage of electrified passenger cars out of the total of 12%, and now it barely reaches 10% at the start of the year. The new mobility not only does not gain ground, but rather goes backwards.
Added to the cold evolution of the data are the images from last Easter, with dozens of Tesla vehicles standing in long lines to recharge. Arturo Pérez de Lucia, general director of Aedive, an association dedicated to supporting the electric car, explains that the scene is very far from reality – there were other idle chargers in nearby areas – and considers it crucial to “reverse the cascade of discouraging information.”
According to what he says, messages that have favored “a negative current of thought in the buyer” proliferate. Among the ideas that discourage consumers and that Aedive points out as false are that there are not enough charging infrastructures, that electric vehicles catch fire or that they are more polluting.
A recent Carwow survey describes users’ beliefs around electric car myths. 63% remain convinced that the autonomy of their batteries is not sufficient and 34% say that they run the risk of catching fire.
The truth is that Aedive considers that this year it should be “reasonable” to reach 200,000 units of registered electric cars, when Anfac data shows that only 10,633 were sold in March, and this figure includes both electric and plug-in hybrids.
The Ganvam sales association assures that automotive companies, contrary to what may be believed, are committed to change. “We believe that it is an unstoppable trend,” although they doubt that at the current rate it will be possible to achieve the goal that by 2030 at least one in three registrations will be electric cars.
“Either we work to promote a framework that accelerates the demand for electrified vehicles with the improvement of purchase aid, taxation and the acceleration of the development of publicly accessible charging infrastructure, or we will face a declining market and to the risk of not meeting the decarbonization objectives,” says the general director of Anfac, José López-Tafall.
By incentives, companies are referring above all to the launch of a new Moves plan in which aid is distributed quickly and collected at the time of purchase. They also demand tax changes, for which the approval of the Ministry of Finance is needed.
From the Ministry of Industry the message is one of commitment. “At this time all the ministries involved are working on a new plan to support the purchase of electric vehicles and expand the charging infrastructure,” the sources say. However, time is of the essence because the Moves plan expires in July and there is still no information about the launch of new programs.
The sluggishness of the market is directly related to the situation in the factories, where the production of electrified vehicles has fallen by 21% in the first quarter. The Ministry of Industry has just announced the launch in June of the third call of the Perte VEC to promote the electric and connected car industry. It will have 500 million, to which a fourth call will be added in the second semester for 1,250 million. Investments are necessary, but not sufficient. “If electric vehicles are not purchased, they cannot be produced either,” Anfac warns.
At the European level the situation is not very different. In March, electric sales fell 11%, according to the Acea association. Tesla, which has lost 30% on the stock market so far this year, has announced that it will cut 10% of its workforce. Mercedes-Benz has revised its electrification objectives downwards and Ford has quarantined some plans to bet on hybrids.
Aedive is presenting a plan to several ministries with a decalogue so that Spain complies as soon as possible with the European infrastructure regulation for alternative fuels.