Spain is a long way from its targets on electric cars. To date, only 14.7% of the government’s annual target has been met. The gap between Spain and other European countries is also widening.
There are currently 17,704 electric and plug-in hybrid cars on the road in Spain. While these cars could well fill a number of football fields, it is still a long way from the government’s target of 120,000 electric cars each year. The more than 17,000 cars represent barely 14.7% of the target for 2022.
Spain wants 3 million electric cars by 2030
In the Business Insider article, manufacturers association Anfac reports that Spain needs 120,000 electric cars every year to reach the target of 3 million electric cars by 2030. This target was previously established in the Spanish government’s national energy and climate plan PNIEC. The plan provides for 3 million electric cars and 2 million zero-emission motorcycles, trucks and buses by 2030.
Gap between Spain and the rest of Europe widening
Spain is not only lagging behind its own targets, Spain also shows few optimistic figures within Europe. Based on various indicators, Spain achieves 21.7 points on a scale of 100 when it comes to electric vehicles. The European Union average is 46.3, which shows that Spain is lagging behind considerably.
Why is Spain lagging behind other countries in Europe?
The cause of this slow development is not only due to the fact that too few electric cars are being purchased. In many places in Spain there are also insufficient facilities for charging electric vehicles.
Association Anfac reports that there are 14,244 publicly accessible charging points in Spain. This is only a third of the number of facilities (45,000) that would need to be added each year to achieve the objectives. According to the government’s plans, at least 100,000 public charging points should be installed by 2023. In addition, the association reports that 85 percent of these charging points have insufficient capacity to be able to charge quickly.
Urgent call to catch up with the European average
Anfac director López-Tafall tells Business Insider that if Spain is to catch up with other countries in Europe and meet the Spanish government’s targets, a greater effort must be made to triple the number of charging points and increase the share of electric cars significantly.
Also read: All about driving an electric car in Spain
