The Environmental Fund announced in a short note published on the website that “the incentive for the acquisition of zero-emission vehicles is not included in the Environmental Fund’s budget for 2024.”
The support that the previous Government had announced would continue this year is at stake, however, the Environmental Fund has not allocated any funds for incentives for the acquisition of zero-emission vehicles for this year.
In a statement, the Association of Electric Vehicle Users (UVE) has already requested clarification and renewed its request for a meeting, previously made to the current Secretary of State for Mobility, in an attempt to obtain answers regarding the current government’s options regarding these incentives.
“We want to remind that the previous Minister of the Environment publicly announced not only the maintenance of incentives for zero-emission vehicles, but also the maintenance of the same allocation as in 2023, €10 million, as well as the creation of a scrappage incentive program for vehicles prior to 2007, in the acquisition of a low-emission vehicle, with an estimated budgetary impact of €129 million,” adds the UVE statement.
The Association of Electric Vehicle Users expressed its total surprise at the information released through the Environmental Fund portal, recalling that “the environmental commitments made by the Portuguese state require the maintenance of incentive policies that promote energy transition. Users made their choices based on statements made in the Assembly of the Republic and widely disseminated in the media. We do not consider the possibility of witnessing a setback at this stage, and we do not even consider a scenario where these two incentive programs are not implemented with the utmost urgency.”
It should be noted that the Incentive for the Introduction of Zero Emission Vehicles in Consumption is a commitment of the Environmental Fund since 2017 that aimed to continue implementing measures to accelerate the adoption of alternative and environmentally more favorable traction energies, such as 100% electric traction.
