The provision of the European Union to veto the sale of cars with combustion engines from 2035 aims to promote the renewal of the car fleet. This, together with the arrival of low emission zones in Spain, poses more and more restrictions on the movement of diesel and gasoline vehicles. However, purchasing an electric or plug-in hybrid car is not affordable for a large part of domestic economies.
In some neighboring countries, such as Germany, the electrification of diesel vehicles is beginning to spread as an effective and affordable alternative. This practice, known as ‘retrofit’, consists of replacing the transmission elements of any vehicle with a combustion engine with others prepared for the operation of an electric or hybrid motor and their adaptation to different software.
The ‘retrofit’ or the engine electrification process is valid for any type of vehicle, from a bus for public transport to a van for the delivery of goods. Also for your car, but, in any case, it must be carried out by a specialized workshop and its approval as an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle must be approved.
The cost of the retrofit kit will depend in part on the mass of the vehicle and the power of its batteries. For a standard vehicle of less than 2 tons, an investment of about 15,000 euros is required. An investment that the owner will amortize, since the purchase of a new electric vehicle would be saved and with this approval the useful life of the vehicle could be increased by up to ten years.
In Spain, the ‘retrofit’ is being subsidized with a fixed amount of aid depending on the type of vehicle and final monitoring. The conversion of diesel, gasoline or LPG vehicles up to 10 years old into electric ones is subsidized with up to 6,000 euros if you are self-employed, so the resulting final investment would be only 9,000 euros. A more than affordable solution to get zero emission labels and circumvent the restrictions in force
On the other hand, the cost of electrifying a large-tonnage van represents an investment of 52,000 euros. The Spanish Government’s heavy vehicle fleet transformation program for professional road transport, financed with Next Generation funds from the European Union, helps companies with 20,000 euros for each vehicle that electrifies, up to a maximum of 50, with the objective of reactivating the automotive sector and developing an alternative intermodal transport model.
