Not out of time, but late compared to expectations: with the publication of the decree on incentives for cars with low polluting emissions the long-awaited Ecobonus will start from next June 3rd. The resources on the plate for this year are 950 millionto which they are added 50 million intended only for the purchase of electric motorcycles and quadricycles. Incentives for the purchase of an electric carfor the scrapping of a vehicle up to Euro 2, they rise from 5 thousand to 13,750 euros for those in possession of ISEE under 30 thousand euros.
The environmental class
Among the new features, expected contributions proportional to the environmental class belonging to the vehicle to be scrapped, including Euro 5 cars: those who scrap a more polluting vehicle obtain a greater contribution. The list price must not be exceeded 35 thousand euros for cars in the 0-20 g/km (electric) and 61-135 g/km (thermal and hybrid) bands and 45 thousand euros for the 21-60 g/km band (plug-in hybrids). The objective of the decree is to encourage the scrapping of the most polluting cars. With this purpose, a contribution of up to 2 thousand euros is also provided for the purchase of used Euro 6 class vehicles with emissions of up to 160 g/km CO2, for car scrapping up to Euro 4. Furthermore, the decree introduces an incentive to the installation of new LPG or methane systems for transport on vehicles of a class not lower than Euro 4: contribution of 400 euros for LPG systems and 800 euros for methane systems.
The incentives
For fully electric cars (emission range 0-20 g/km) with a price of up to 35 thousand euros, the incentive is 6 thousand euros, plus another 5 thousand if a car from Euro 0 to Euro 2 is scrapped (the additional bonus drops to 4 thousand if a Euro 3). For the purchase of new hybrids (emission range 21-60 g/km) with a price of up to 45 thousand euros the contribution is 4 thousand euros, plus another 4 thousand if a Euro 0 to Euro 2 is scrapped. For combustion engine and hybrid cars ( range 61-135 g/km) with a price up to 35 thousand euros, the incentives are 3 thousand euros, only in the case of scrapping a vehicle from Euro 0 to Euro 2 (2 thousand euros if Euro 3, 1,500 euros if Euro 4). If you purchase a used vehicle of no less than Euro 6 and an emissions range of up to 160 g/km, with a price of up to 25 thousand euros, you get a bonus of 2 thousand euros, provided you scrap a car up to Euro 4. Who buys an electric or hybrid vehicle and has an ISEE of up to 30 thousand euros, obtains a 25% increase in the contribution.
Opinions are rather conflicting on the effectiveness of the measures. If for Anfia, the association of companies in the automotive supply chain, the measure “has the potential to support the automotive sector in the energy efficiency of factories, so as to be able to increase productivity and reduce the gap with the production of competitor countries” , some more doubts come from Unrae, the association that brings together foreign automotive companies in Italy.
«Seriously late decree»
«The measures are certainly welcome, but they are seriously late, the estimate is that the third band for thermal and diesel vehicles will quickly run out, perhaps already by July, like the other times – explains Antonio Cernicchiaro, Unrae deputy general director – . However, we expect that most of the incentives will aim at the scrapping of Euro 3 cars, or even more modern ones, with overall modest amounts” Unrae asks us to look at the medium-long term: “For some time – Cernicchiaro points out – we have been asking the government to make the incentives are structural, allowing us to think about stable funds and more lasting effects”. Finally there is the issue of charging infrastructure for electric cars – For Unrae “there is a lack of support to expand the market to new operators and lower the cost of energy, with measures that really incentivize the purchase”.
