The Ministry of Industry has published today in the BOE a new aid package for projects related to the electric car for 560 million euros that will serve to promote the second call for the Perte of the electric and connected vehicle (VEC) and that will consist of loans reimbursable or grants.
Of the new amount, 344.4 million euros will be allocated to grants and another 215.2 million to repayable loans at 2.88% interest and a repayment term of 10 years, with a three-year grace period.
The aids are the first of the second call of the Perte of the automotive industry. The first, in which 791 million euros were awarded to 372 projects, was not as successful as expected due to deadline limitations and little flexibility.
Industry has corrected the aspects that the sector denounced at the launch of the second edition of the Perte, with which it aspires to mobilize around 2,200 million euros in resources for the automotive industry and, once the first one has been added, around 3,000 million. It has also announced, although without any specificity, that in the future there could be a third call for an additional 1,200 million.
At the beginning of July the Government published the regulatory bases of the new aid, which are the ones that are now beginning to be released. Those launched today are part, within the second edition of Perte, of section B, which is aimed at individual projects oriented to the electric car value chain. The other section, A, refers to battery projects and has a budget of 834 million euros.
The newly announced support includes more than just traditional component projects. There are also software and hardware for the vehicles of the future and, given the delay in Spain in the installation of charging points, those related to the deployment of these infrastructures.
Industry has accelerated aid after several months of conversation with automotive companies. Applications for the new loans and grants must be submitted between August 16 and September 15. Unlike the first Part, in this case the applications do not have to be accompanied by business consortia.
In section B, companies can present various projects associated with fields related to research, development and innovation, innovation in sustainability and energy efficiency. Regional aid and investments in favor of SMEs are also promoted.
The procedure is simple competition and the objective, according to Industry, is “to make the conditions for participation more flexible and to increase the categories of projects that can be supported.”
Within the financing, the percentage of reimbursable loans has been limited to 80% of the budget. The aid disbursement mechanism, unlike the first call, is unique.
The aid is backed by the 94,344 million euros requested by the Government from Brussels as part of the Recovery Plan, which in turn depend on compliance with the reform programs to which Spain has committed. The addendum sent to Brussels includes industrial projects for 7,700 million.