The Spanish Ministry of Industry and Tourism has announced the launch of the fourth call for Spain’s Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation of the Electric and Connected Vehicle (PERTE VEC IV), which will have funds of 1.25 billion euros. 1 billion of this amount will be distributed in the form of loans and the remaining 250 million will be provided in the form of grants.

The main new feature of this fourth call is that the Public Corporation for Industrial Promotion and Business Development (Sepides) will be exclusively responsible for its management. With the legal basis already published in the Official State Gazette, Sepides is preparing to launch the call for the battery area and, later on, a second one aimed at the value chain.

New establishments, extensions and conversions
The objective of PERTE VEC IV is to promote the creation of new industrial establishments throughout the country, the expansion of production capacities at plants already in operation and the conversion of production lines for the manufacture of innovative products that were not previously produced.

In its three previous calls, the Electric and Connected Vehicle Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE) mobilised close to 2.5 billion euros, which benefited around 300 companies representing the entire automotive value chain. The Spanish Minister for Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, wants to repeat the experience and is calling on the entire industry to submit their project ideas in response to this fourth call for proposals.

Driving industrial transformation
As the Minister explained, “We want to exhaust all funds and continue to push for industrial transformation of the country”. With regard to the underlying objective of this aid, he added that the aim “should not only be to adapt to changes, but to anticipate them. We want Spain to be talked about, not only as a major vehicle producer, but also as the place where the world’s most advanced mobility solutions come into being.”

The Minister took advantage of the announcement of the PERTE VEC IV to support an industry experiencing uncertainty due to tariffs, and emphasised its dynamism and competitiveness in the midst of a transformation towards sustainable mobility. Vehicle registrations in the first four months of the year did actually grow by 12.2% compared to the same period last year, with 80% growth in electric vehicles.

^{Photo: Ministry of Industry and Tourism}