Spain’s government will invest EUR168m next year to help subsidise electric car sales in the country, according to industry, tourism and commerce sub-minister Amparo Fernandez Gonazelez.

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But the initiative was not well received by some industry segments which called it a “macabre joke”, urging the government to help bolster conventional car sales first.

Some EUR80m will go to subsidise EV sales while another EUR70m will be earmarked to develop Spain’s recharging network. Another EUR17.5m will be poured into marketing initiatives.

The investment will take place despite one of the most austere budgets in Spanish history as the country battles with a deep recession.

The maximum purchase subsidy will be EUR6,000 per vehicle. The state hopes the aid will help drive 20,000 unit sales next year and 50,000 in 2012, most of which are expected to be bought by corporates and institutions.

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Under Spain’s electric car strategy (Estrategia Integral para el Impulso del Vehiculo Electrico), the country hopes to have 250,000 battery powered and hybrid vehicles by 2014.

But dealer federation Faconauto ridiculed the government’s strategy it will take some time for electric cars to reach the market en masse.

“Our grandchildren will be the ones that will probably get to see the electric car and moving to solve our grandchildren’s problems when the whole sector is sinking is failing to be in touch with reality,” president Antonio Romero-Haupold claimed.

He reiterated the auto industry’s coordinated plea that the state remove registration taxes to help avert a sales landslide in the second half.