Italy’s electric car crisis

Sales of electric cars are not taking off in Italy; on the contrary, the past few months have seen a sharp drop in registrations, which have recorded a very worrying -30%.
But what are the reasons for this drop?
It seems difficult to think of a simple disregard for the future of the planet from an environmental point of view and a lack of attention to emissions.
The reasons for the decline are multiple and indeed also understandable and predictable.
Indeed, at a time of uncertainties and fears for the future and family economies, and in a situation where the cost of electricity is rising at dizzying levels, the concerns of those who want to change cars are more than legitimate.
First and foremost, the issue of cost: electric cars cost a lot, if not too much, compared to ‘traditional’ or hybrid-powered models.
To this must be added the difficulties relating to delivery times, which are very long and uncertain and lead those in urgent need of a new car to necessarily fall back on other types of car, and the still scarce recharging network throughout the country, which to date is actually insufficient, especially on the motorway network and in the south.
Another issue of no small importance is given by the policy applied so far to purchase incentives, better known as the ecobonus, which is currently limited to the private channel only, and therefore excludes companies and their fleets, with a price limitation that has dropped from 45 to 35,000 euro for electric cars and from 50 to 45,000 euro for plug-in hybrids.
In short, a series of concauses that are leading Italians towards choices that are less green but more reliable in terms of time and cost.
A situation that we hope can be partly resolved, first and foremost with the planned extension of the bonus to the corporate sector as well, and with the real strengthening of the recharging network, an essential element to make families lean towards electric cars.
However, the problem of vehicle delivery remains, linked to the supply of parts, most of which are of Chinese origin, a problem that can only be resolved through a policy of developing the production of parts, particularly batteries, outside of Asia.