Canary Islands EV subsidy: up to €30,000, not for all

The transport transition is a particular issue in the Canaries: limited space, many short journeys, heavy dependence on imported fuel. No wonder the regional government is pushing the electrification of transport. Now the Department for Ecological Transition and Energy (Consejería de Transición Ecológica y Energía) under Mariano Zapata has launched a new round of funding for sustainable mobility in public transport, co-financed with EU money from the FEDER Canarias 2021–2027 programme.

But the figures running through the news tickers deserve a second look — for there, two different levels of funding are easily conflated.

Who is funded — and who is not

First things first, to clear up a common misunderstanding: this regional-government subsidy is not aimed at private individuals wanting to buy their own electric car. Those eligible are exclusively professionals in passenger transport: public and private companies, holders of a taxi licence, and VTC operators (chauffeur-driven hire cars) providing a public transport service. So it is about renewing fleets — buses, taxis, collective transport — not the private second car.

Zapata framed the goal thus: electric mobility should become «an accessible reality not only for citizens but also for the transport professionals who play a key role in decarbonising our cities».

The terms in detail

The subsidy is split into two lines. Line A supports the purchase of electric or zero-emission vehicles in classes M1, M2 and M3 — from the car-sized taxi saloon to the bus. A minimum investment is required, graduated by vehicle class: about €25,000 for an M1 vehicle, €35,000 for an M2 and €60,000 for an M3 bus.

Line B funds the associated charging infrastructure and alternative-fuel stations. Here up to €110,000 per beneficiary is possible; for municipalities and public companies the maximum rises to up to €300,000.

Where the «€30,000» comes from

And the much-quoted €30,000? That specific sum does not come from the regional-government subsidy but from a separate programme of the Cabildo of La Gomera. There the island council funds the purchase of zero-emission vehicles on a graduated scale: up to €10,000 for cars with at most eight seats — and up to €30,000 for vehicles with more than eight seats used in occasional transport («transporte discrecional»). The island of La Palma has also launched its own funding programme for electric and hybrid taxis. So anyone reading the figure €30,000 should know: it applies to large vehicles at island level, not blanket to every EV purchase.

And what about private individuals?

Anyone wishing to buy an electric car privately in the Canaries does not come away empty-handed — but is supported by other routes and to a markedly smaller extent. The key here is the Spain-wide Plan Auto+: it provides up to €4,500 in subsidy, plus €1,000 from the manufacturer, deducted directly at the dealer. Favoured above all are pure electric vehicles with a net price up to around €45,000, preferably of EU production.

There is also a structural advantage of the archipelago: instead of VAT (IVA), the Canaries apply the lower IGIC of generally 7 percent, which reduces the final price of a vehicle directly. For the home wallbox, by contrast, there is no longer a direct subsidy, only a tax advantage: 15 percent of the installation cost can be deducted from income tax (IRPF), on a taxable base of at most €4,000 — up to €600 saved.

What remains

The new subsidy is a targeted building block of the Canarian transport transition — but one aimed above all at professionals: taxis, hire cars and transport firms electrifying their fleets. For them, a close look at the tender conditions can be worthwhile, not least because of the full advance payment. Private individuals, by contrast, should be aware that their funding routes lie elsewhere — in the state Plan Auto+ and the tax advantage. Anyone who does not confuse the two will find their way through the subsidy jungle much more easily.