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The latest surge in fuel prices across Spain, is giving electric cars a stronger sales pitch. With petrol and diesel becoming much more expensive, the cost of driving a combustion engine vehicle can now be up to five times higher than charging an electric car at home.

 

The pressure on drivers comes after the conflict in the Middle East pushed oil prices up sharply, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz adding further tension to the market. In Spain, the effect has already reached the pumps. Petrol is now seven cents more expensive than it was on February 28, at €1.56 a litre, while diesel has risen much more steeply, climbing 45 cents to €1.89.

 

That has changed the numbers for everyday drivers. According to Faconauto (Spain's car dealership association), charging an electric car at home for 100 kilometres can cost between €1.50 and €2, compared with €8 to €12 for a petrol vehicle. Transport & Environment says the extra cost of refuelling a petrol car is now expected to be five times higher than for an electric car.

 

Raúl Morales, communications director of Faconauto, says buyers are noticing. “Dealers are telling us that customers are increasingly receptive to electric technologies,” he said, adding that the crisis has arrived just as electric vehicle registrations were already growing quickly. The government’s Auto+ Plan, which offers subsidies of up to €4,500 for these models, is also helping to support interest.

 

The figures back that up. In March, registrations of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles rose 27.4% compared with February. Interest in the used market has also jumped by 72% compared with the same period last year.

 

Even so, the shift to electric still faces an obstacle. Spain’s charging network has grown by 18.8% in the past year and now has more than 55,000 operational points, according to ANFAC. But there are still around 17,000 charging stations, about 24% of the total, that are out of service, broken or not yet connected to the grid.

 

That gap matters if Spain wants more drivers to make the switch. For now, the price of petrol and diesel is doing part of the work for the electric car market, but experts say the charging network will need to improve quickly if the trend is to keep growing.

 

 

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