AEDIVE Urges Spanish Government to Recognize EV Charging Infrastructure as Strategic Industry

The Asociación Empresarial para el Desarrollo e Impulso de la Movilidad Eléctrica (Aedive) has delivered a strategic roadmap to Spain’s Ministry of Industry and Tourism, urging the administration to formally classify EV charging infrastructure as a core industrial asset.

Redefining Charging Infrastructure as a Strategic Automotive Pillar

During a meeting held on Tuesday, Aedive presented Minister of Industry and Tourism Jordi Hereu with the Decálogo de la Industria Española de Infraestructura de Recarga, a blueprint drafted alongside national manufacturing leaders. Instead, policymakers must view charging equipment as an inseparable component of the broader automotive ecosystem.

Aedive argues that robust industrial policies are vital to support the design, development, and manufacturing of charging systems across Europe. By strengthening supply chains, Spain can reduce external dependencies while generating high-skilled employment. To achieve this, the business association has formally requested that manufacturers of charging solutions be explicitly included in the Industrial Accelerator Act.

Shifting Public Procurement Toward Total Life-Cycle Costs

A major friction point addressed in the Decálogo involves current public contracting frameworks. Aedive wants to transform procurement rules by mandating that public tenders evaluate the complete total cost of ownership over a device’s life cycle, rather than relying exclusively on the acquisition price.

Under the proposed framework, future public bidding processes would weigh installation, maintenance, energy consumption, updates, and eventual hardware replacement. Furthermore, the association insists that criteria such as energy efficiency, cybersecurity, interoperability, robust post-sales support, and overall product quality must be taken into account. This shift aims to favor more robust and efficient solutions.

Establishing Domestic Technical Oversight and Regulatory Alignment

To ensure balanced competition between European producers and foreign competitors, Aedive is pushing for a specialized national supervisory body. Modeled after European templates such as the French one, this dedicated mechanism would conduct technical testing, coordinate inspections, and supervise regulatory compliance across charging hardware.

Photo: eleconomista.es

Simultaneously, the industry group has called for a harmonized regulatory environment to eliminate conflicting interpretations of European mandates. Navigating requirements—ranging from the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) and metrology standards to the Cyber Resilience Act and the NIS2 directive—is highlighted as an area needing coordination to avoid divergent interpretations and market barriers.

Beyond structural manufacturing policies, the meeting also tackled persistent logistical bottlenecks. Aedive and ministry officials reviewed administrative delays slowing down the commissioning of new charging points, the deployment of high-power infrastructure, and the practical implementation of energy-saving incentives such as the Certificados de Ahorro Energético (CAES) and eCredits. The association also presented a report addressing subsidized kilowatt-hour rates for heavy-duty electric transport to reduce the impact of energy costs on professional transport.

The Road Ahead for Spain’s Green Transition

Spain stands at a juncture in its green mobility transition. Aedive seeks to advance a broader industrial strategy that allows Spain to become a reference not only in the use of the electric vehicle, but also in the industry that makes its development possible.

By pushing for procurement reform, regulatory harmonization, and strategic industrial classification, Aedive is advocating for the consolidation of a solid, innovative, and competitive industrial sector. Whether the Ministry of Industry and Tourism integrates these proposals will determine how Spain leverages its existing industrial and technological capabilities in charging infrastructure into a lasting competitive advantage.

How should the government balance upfront fiscal restraint against long-term industrial durability when funding public green infrastructure? Share your perspective in the comments below.