Europe is moving towards the decarbonisation of transport, and electric cars play an important role in the future of sustainable mobility. In this regard, we believe it is helpful to reconstruct an overview of the more concrete projects and incentives in favour of electric mobility, the institutional innovations arriving and the economic benefits for those who invest as a private individual or company.

As of 30 September 2023, there are 47,228 electric vehicle charging points for public use in Italy. This information comes from the Motus-E quarterly monitoring for the end of 2023, which reports a growth of 44.1% compared to the same period in 2022. In nine months, 10,456 units were installed, the highest level ever recorded for the period.

It has been a golden year for the diffusion of recharging infrastructure, even for the South and islands, responsible for 23% of installations. Campania saw the largest growth out of all the regions.

It is hoped that in 2024 this positive trend will continue, also thanks to the new calls for tenders financed by the PNRR [National Recovery and Resilience Plan] that could reward the commitment of operators and Italian technology industry as well as guarantee a state-of-the-art network, capable of supporting the development and diffusion of electric vehicles and contributing to global decarbonised mobility objectives.

There are more reasons than purely ecological and strategic ones for the widespread uptake of electric mobility. Company fleets, either small or large, can benefit from considerable financial savings, both in the short and long term.

In an in-depth report on the integration of electric vehicles and the electricity grid, Motus-E estimates that from now until 2023, electric vehicles can help cut the overgeneration from renewable sources by 45%, avoiding enormous energy wastage during dispatch, and reducing dispatch costs by up to 800 million euros per year.

In addition, CO² emissions could be reduced by 41%, but the increase in electricity demand would only be 3%. In other words, an electric fleet will exploit resources that are already being produced and cut the cost of wasting them.

One example is VGI (Vehicle-Grid Integration), which would allow parked electric vehicles to return energy to the grid if they are not using it so that it is used elsewhere instead of being dissipated. If we then think about the integration of electric mobility with smart cities, the prospects for efficiency and functionality increase even further.

Looking more specifically at company fleets, today 86% of combustion vehicles could be replaced with an electric vehicle that has sufficient autonomy for the travel distance needed.

60% of European fleets would benefit from fleet decarbonisation, and could save a total of 261 million euros over seven years. And for the individual vehicle? In the same time period, savings would be around 9,500 euros, of which around 6,000 euros would be for fuel alone.

An electric vehicle has a higher average cost, which is mainly amortised by the absence of fossil fuels, but in the long run e-mobility also pays off in terms of incentives and safety, translated into lower insurance costs and expenses related to collisions and accidents.

In addition, determining the necessary budget for an electric fleet is much easier as operating costs can be accurately predicted. While the cost of petrol is highly variable over the course of the year, the price of electricity tends to be more stable, allowing further refinement of estimates.

In one of our last articles we mentioned the legislative text approved by the European Parliament according to which by 2026 Europe’s main roads must have an electric recharging station every 60 km, in addition to the legislative decree that requires the provision of at least one charging point for apartment blocks that consist of 10 residential units or more under construction or undergoing major renovation.

It should, however, be remembered that to secure the future of e-mobility, car purchase incentives are also crucial, without which the recharging infrastructure will not be fully utilised. Incentives reduce the initial cost and make the purchase of electric vehicles for company fleets even more advantageous.

At the beginning of February, the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy anticipated the framework of interventions in the Prime Ministerial Decree concerning the 2024 Ecobonus for sustainable mobility. Of the 950 million euros, it is estimated that 240 million will be allocated to the purchase of electric-only cars. We will have to wait until March at soonest for the official figures, when they should be approved and enter into force. So far, no special attention seems to be given to corporate fleets, except for those intended for freight transport.

From an infrastructure point of view, the picture looks rather promising, but we hope that there will be an increase in the drive and clarity to promote the adoption of electric vehicles: including substantial incentives and tax deductions for companies that decide to invest in fleet renewal in the electric mobility sector, which today is viewed with widespread optimism by Italian companies involved in the transport decarbonisation process.