Is Spain’s EV sector finally getting the momentum it needs?

Although Spain's EV uptake has been behind compared to neighbours, the country has still been "putting their money where their mouth is", and based on recent data releases, it seems as though its momentum is finally picking up. Yusuf Latief discusses.

Data coming out of Spain this year has painted a positive picture for its sector, with increasing uptake in EV registrations and charge point installations.

According to Matteo Craglia, a Senior Fellow at the ITS-Davis European Transport and Energy Research Centre (ETERC) of UC Davis, the first half of 2025 has been a success for the sector.

Craglia, who discussed the sector during a podcast on the decarbonisation of transport in Spain, explained: "The latest numbers, hot off the press for the first half of 2025, are that 17% of new car sales were electric. So that's not bad,” said Craglia during a podcast on the decarbonisation of transport in Spain.

“However, we have to also contrast that with other countries in Europe…the European numbers were 24% in 2025 compared to 17% so Spain should arguably be at least in line with the European average.”

Indeed, this is what seems to sum up Spain’s experience – they’re “putting their money where their mouth is” as Craglia says, but there are still challenges to overcome.

Still, there is reason to be positive.

According to a July data release from ANFAC, the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers, the first half of 2025 saw an increase in EV sales of 130.7% compared to the year prior, with 24,776 new units recorded.

According to ANFAC, the figure marks the country's best-ever record for a single month - sales of electrified vehicles represented 20.8% of the total market and for the year as a whole, 102,348 units were sold, 83% more than the previous year.

Félix Garcia, the association’s Director of Communications and Marketing, explained how, “on the electrification side, the progression in registrations continues despite the slow processing of MOVES III aid, whose budget will not arrive until the end of the year.

“All in all, we closed the semester above 600,000 units and with a 14% increase, which makes us optimistic to try to close the year with 1.1 million passenger cars sold, closer to the 1.25 million delivered in 2019.”

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Charge points and REVE map

Of course, when we consider the uptake of EVs, consideration too must go to the installation of charge points.

According to August data from AEDIVE, the Business Association for the Development and Promotion of Electric Mobility, the network of public charging infrastructure in Spain reached 47,593 operating points as of July 31, 2025.

The figure represents a growth of 4.87% compared to the volume of December 31, 2024.

The repeated growth figure is inspiring, but when it comes to Spain’s charging infrastructure, what may be yet more interesting is an initiative announced in April by the country, detailing its REVE map.

The map, developed by Spain’s TSO Red Eléctrica, makes available in real time the characteristics, availability, and price of charging for more than 25,600 points. This number will continue to expand to include all this type of infrastructure in the country as operators transfer their charging point data to Red Eléctrica.

In the podcast, Pierpaolo Cazzola, Co-Director of the ETERC, explains that the map's significance comes from such data, because “…you know the status [of these chargers], whether it's free, whether it's not, whether you can access it.."

Cazzola: “It's a positive development towards…first, cooperation in terms of collecting the data, and then second, the provision of consumer-facing information that is real time, up to date and helps in growing confidence that you will be able to charge if you need it.”

Indeed, the promise of such a map is a boon for the sector where data interoperability is a recurring barrier to EV uptake and management.

According to Eurelectric, the federation representing the European electricity industry, in their 2024 report Data interoperability: an essential for the e-mobility ecosystem, EV data has been kept in silos, which hampers the relevant players of the ecosystem from optimising their services.

In the report, Serge Colle, who was at the time a Global Energy & Resource Leader with EY, said: “eMobility is about more than just the technological switch away from combustion engines. It’s about connecting the worlds of transport, energy and the built environment.

“This, however, depends on data interoperability and information sharing and getting there is a challenge. Overcoming this will help improve the overall EV experience and unlock value for ecosystem players.”

Indeed, for a sector defined by data sharing constraints, Spain’s REVE map may be just the tool it needs to accelerate its growth.

For Cazzola, this is certainly the case: “this map…in a way, moves Spain towards that [integrated network of charging and roaming]. But there is still a margin to improve.”

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