The electromobility barometer for the second quarter of 2023 shows once again that Spain is making progress in its development, but is far behind the pace of the European environment. During this period, the global electromobility indicator for Spain (which assesses the penetration of electrified vehicles and the deployment of publicly accessible charging infrastructure towards the 2030 target according to the “Fit for 55” package of measures) has increased by one point, reaching an overall score of 12 out of 100 points. On the other hand, the European average is already at 25 points, with the indicator improving by 1.5 points in the second quarter, widening the gap between Spain and the continent.
In 2023, 4,632 new publicly accessible charging points were installed, bringing the total to 22,760 across Spain.
In this sense, ANFAC highlights the example of Portugal, which, with growth of more than two points, is very close to the European average and is moving away from the lower bloc of Europe, led by Spain and Italy. The Portuguese policy regarding electrified vehicles, with a taxation aimed at encouraging the acquisition of this type of automobile, especially for companies (segment driving change), and a fast and efficient information and delivery system for development of infrastructure charging have led to a notable improvement in Portugal in the global indicator.
As for the CCAA’s global indicator, Madrid, Navarra and Catalonia remain in the top 3 of the ranking. Of note is Asturias’ growth of 1.9 points, following improvements in both the market and infrastructure, bringing it closer to the national average.
The electric vehicle market needs to accelerate to reach the European average
In the second quarter of 2023, the electrified vehicle penetration indicator reached an average score of 18.9 points, representing a growth of 1.5 points compared to the previous quarter. Although it achieves a growth comparable to the 1.8 point increase in the European average, it still remains far from the 38.7 points out of 100 achieved by the European group as a whole, which puts Spain 20 points below .
Spain takes last place in the ranking, far away from leading countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom, which are above the European average. Within the indicator, Portugal stands out again, achieving an increase of 4 points to 39.2 out of 100 in the overall rating.
In the first half of the year, Spain registered a total of 55,544 electrified passenger vehicles (BEV+PHEV), improving the previous year’s records. This number is still far from the target of 190,000 sales of this vehicle type for the whole of 2023. A necessary target to meet the emissions reduction requirements imposed by Brussels.
In the national context, all regions are improving their performance, with Madrid, Navarra and the Balearic Islands at the top of the national rankings, achieving the greatest growth in the second quarter. Despite the improvement, no autonomous community exceeds the European average.
The infrastructure for public access is still developing very slowly
In the second quarter of the year, Spain failed to move out of the last places in the European ranking for the expansion of publicly accessible charging infrastructure. According to the charging infrastructure indicator, Spain only managed an increase of 6 tenths, achieved a total of 5.1 points out of 100 and is therefore in third-to-last place in the continental ranking.
In any case, the pace of development in Europe is slow, as the ANFAC electromobility barometer shows. In the second quarter, the European average reached a rating of 11.2 points, with an increase of 1.1 points. Only northern European countries such as the Netherlands and Norway can stand out from the crowd with scores above 50 points.
At national level, Castile and León leads the rankings with 8.2 points out of 100, but Asturias and Castile-La Mancha achieve the largest improvement over this period, with increases of 2 and 1.2 points respectively.
New charging points, but with low performance
2,517 new publicly accessible charging points were put into operation in the second quarter, meaning 4,632 new points for 2023. Although the growth rate compared to the previous quarter is maintained and the total number for the national territory is 22,760 points, the publicly accessible charging infrastructure is still very far from the target of 45,000 charging points this year and meet the, both in terms of number and installed power Emissions reduction targets set in Fit for 55.
Of the total charging infrastructure newly installed in the second quarter, 1,843 charging points have an output of less than or up to 22 kW. That means 73% of point growth occurs in this low power range. Currently, only 4% of the public charging network (875 points in total) in the entire national territory has an output of more than 150 kW. As emphasized by ANFAC, it is necessary to move forward in the development not only of capillarity throughout the area, but also of high power that allows fast charging. Capillarity is just as important as the quality of publicly accessible charging points. The use of such high-performance infrastructure, which enables charging similar to the refueling experience of an internal combustion vehicle, is essential for the development of the electric vehicle and is an absolute priority for electric mobility with heavy vehicles.
The administrative difficulties in the installation and commissioning process are reflected in the 6,475 points out of service, mainly because they could not be connected to the electricity distribution network or because they are in poor condition or damaged.
ANFAC, as a representative of automotive brands, is aware of the urgency and importance that the entry of electric vehicles and a charging network with sufficient capillarity, quantity and quality has for Spain. For this reason, in January the sector presented the Roadmap 2023-2025, a series of urgent measures in the area of improving support plans, improving taxation and accelerating the construction of publicly accessible charging infrastructure. All this is in line with the work that the Association has already carried out with various proposals, such as the updated map of publicly accessible charging infrastructure at national level and the CCAA, which sets minimum development milestones to achieve the objectives set by Europe in the Fit . for 55 by 2035.
Spain is moving towards electrification, but not at the pace required to achieve the required goals. And when setting very demanding goals, one must be aware that a race begins that has no end and in which you have to run every day; concrete measures are not enough. This barometer created by ANFAC shows once again that electromobility is present in our country, but not at the required pace. Automotive brands are doing their part by launching more than 200 electrified models and announcing a complete renewal towards electrification of their models in the coming years. At ANFAC we insist that in order to overcome the existing price and autonomy barriers, it is necessary that measures be taken in the next legislative period both to improve the efficiency of the MOVES plan through direct aid at the time of purchase and to simplify it the procedures for the installation of charging stations, especially high-performance charging stations. Without forgetting that, as the sales success of electric vehicles among companies in Portugal shows, taxation is an important lever to promote the market penetration of this type of vehicle. “Our main competitors in Europe and in the world are accelerating this change and Spain has no choice but to accelerate too, because the rest are not waiting,” emphasized José López-Tafall, Director General of ANFAC.
