"2025 is tomorrow": the Spanish automotive sector accelerates European funds implementation of the electric vehicle PERTE.
The electric vehicle is, in theory, one of the priorities of the Spanish government to use European funds for post-pandemic recovery. So much so that the executive released the star mechanism to accelerate the granting of these grants —the PERTE or Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation— with one for the electric vehicle, announced more than 6 months ago.
However, the months pass and the companies in the sector reiterate their complaints about the slow progress of this mechanism that will allow them to obtain these aids. The last to do so has been Wayne Griffiths, the president of Seat, the Spanish brand owned by the German Volkswagen, which has precisely conditioned the installation of its battery factory in Spain to aid.
Griffiths was elected on Wednesday as the new president of the employers ' association of automobile manufacturers ANFAC for the next 2 years, a position in which he replaces José Vicente de los Mozos, president of Renault Spain. And he did not hesitate to ask the Executive for speed again.
"2025 is tomorrow", said the British executive, who claimed" go out to win, make decisions now " in relation to the PERTE of the electric vehicle, according to Five Days. "It is time to bet on the transformation of this country into a sustainable mobility hub for Europe,” he added.
Less than a month ago the Government published in the Official State Gazette the bases of the PERTE aid, almost 6 months after its announcement, after having received authorization from the European Commission.
Spanish automotive sector accelerates European funds
The aid for the period 2021-2023 will have a maximum amount of 2,975 million euros, of which 1,425 million will be loans and 1,550 million as grants. The manufacturers that obtain the aid will have a maximum deadline to carry out the projects on September 30, 2025.
The projects that are submitted to the PERTE will have to be presented in a format of grouping of companies and present projects that involve several links in the sector and cover some of the mandatory, optional and transversal blocks.
The mandatory areas are three: original equipment manufacturing, manufacturing of hydrogen batteries, and manufacturing of other components of the electric vehicle. Complementary components include smart vehicle components, connectivity and charging systems; and transversally appear other elements such as circular economy, digitalization and professional training.
These aids are key to cushion as much as possible a decarbonisation that will cost jobs to the automotive sector: a recent study figures in 29,000 jobs that will be lost in industry by the transition from combustion vehicle to electric vehicle.
With the call for aid approved, the sector has to clear a great decision that will be key to that objective of turning Spain into a business focus or hub of electromobility: where will be located the Volkswagen battery factory, with which the German manufacturer intends to cover its goal of having 6 European giga factories by 2030.
The plant where Spanish automotive sector accelerates European funds happens
This plant, which caused during the summer a war between autonomous communities to offer good conditions to the German company, would have some restrictions linked to the PERTE. According to the information, one of the requirements imposed by the European Commission to approve the aid is that investments in fixed capital are dedicated to the regions with the lowest wealth, measured in per capita income.
As a result, Catalonia is out of the pools for the Spanish Gigafactory, according to sources of the German brand at the Forefront and win entire three regions.
One of them is Aragón, which has in its favour the proximity to the other Volkswagen plants in Martorell (Barcelona) and Landaben (Navarra) and with a plant in its territory of Stellantis (Figueruelas). It also opts for this is the Valencian Community, which proposes Sagunto as a destination, and another is Extremadura, which has in its favour deposits of minerals useful for batteries, such as lithium and nickel.
Wolkswagen leaders Spanish automotive sector accelerates European funds
In addition, Volkswagen also maintains doubts about what will happen with the 500,000 electric Seat and its sports brand Cupra that it intended to produce in its Spanish plants in Martorell (Barcelona) and Landaben (Pamplona). Almost a year ago Griffiths linked that production to some requirements: that the share of clean vehicles rise to 10% of sales and installed charging points increase to 28,000.
Well, none of the requirements have been met by the end of 2021: registrations of electric and plug-in hybrids in 2021 remained at 7.8% of the total; and public charging points are between 12,000 and 16,000, according to different sources.
