The Spanish government has pledged €590 million to promote and develop a market for electric cars. The fund includes incentives for electric car buyers of a 20 per cent subsidy up to the value of €6,000.
Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero made the announcement yesterday as his government pledged to increase the number of electric cars on the roads. The government plans to have 250,000 electric vehicles on the road in Spain by 2014 and up to a million including hybrid vehicles.
Other measures to boost sales of electric cars include discounts on the price of recharging vehicles at night and credit loans for companies that develop electric car technology.
"The electric car can contribute to reduce the cost of power as it will increase the use of generation and distribution infrastructure," Zapatero said.
However the subsidy for electric cars has been reduced from the initial €7,000 grant first announced back in March, Reuters reports.
According to the new agency, however, the fund will also help establish a network of charging points for electric cars which will utilise excess electricity production currently being wasted. Spain has a vast resource of wind farms which currently over produce electricity at off-peak times.
