News
Barcelona will pay €600 for replacing your petrol scooter with an electric one
From September, Barcelona will offer aid of up to €600 to replace combustion-engine mopeds with electric models. The call will be aimed at individuals and companies in the city and seeks to speed up renewal of a vehicle fleet still heavily dependent on petrol.
The grant will be 600 euros for each electric moped purchased, capped at 50% of the vehicle’s price excluding VAT. It may be claimed by people who have bought a new electric motorbike since 1 March this year and can prove that a combustion-engine moped has been scrapped. To simplify the process, only proof of purchase and the scrapping certificate will be required.
The programme will have a specific allocation of 5.2 million euros and will remain active until 2028. It forms part of a broader municipal plan, endowed with 15 million euros, which seeks to speed up the electrification of the city’s moped fleet and reduce polluting emissions in the coming years.
Barcelona currently has around 32,000 mopeds registered, of which around 24,000 are still powered by combustion engines. The city council’s aim is to reverse that situation and ensure that most of these vehicles are electric before the end of the decade. In addition, the plan envisages expanding the network of battery-swapping stations to make the day-to-day use of this type of vehicle easier.
To make the application process easier, Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (BSM) will offer the scrapping service free of charge at its municipal depots and will issue the certificate required to access the grant. In this way, applicants will be able to complete the procedure with fewer formalities and no additional costs.
The aid seeks to speed up the renewal of a moped fleet still dominated by combustion engines. From September onwards, the outcome will depend on how many owners consider the incentive sufficient and on whether the charging and battery-swapping network keeps pace with the growth of electric mobility.