Just over eight hours. This was the time that elapsed between the opening of the platform for booking incentives and the exhaustion of funds for electric cars. The total 210 million euros allocated for this type of car have evaporated. It can be said, in practice, that almost all the funds dedicated to electric vehicles have financed orders already “in the drawer” of the sellers.
At first glance it would seem like a resounding success for electric vehicles in Italy: it is no coincidence that Motus-E talks about “growing interest also in Italy for electric technology” and of “importance of building incentive policies with a more programmatic scope and oriented towards the medium term“. Similar satisfaction is expressed by the Promotor Study Center which, through the mouth of the president Gian Primo Quagliano, speaks of “a success for the government’s incentive campaign in favor of electric cars which, contrary to what had happened in the past, saw great public interest for the first time“.
In eight hours, more than 26,000 electric cars were registered. Until yesterday, 240,000 were circulating in Italy
In a Manzonian way, however, we ask ourselves: was it true glory? And while waiting for posterity to elaborate their arduous sentence, we must also take into account the many doubts linked to this electric boom. Starting from a number: taking the 210 million euros dedicated to electric cars, and considering an average incentive of 8,000, it turns out that in just over eight hours more than 26,000 electric cars were registered.
In the first five months of 2024, a total of 21,424 electric vehicles were registered – Motus-E itself says so. The entire electric fleet in circulation in Italy is just under 240,000 cars. Even considering that the vast majority of orders were already in the sellers’ bellies, waiting for the incentives to be released, is it realistic to think that more electric cars were registered in eight hours than in five months? Or that in eight hours the electricity fleet circulating in Italy increased by more than 10%?
Another consideration: practically no one used the funds for incentives for electric vehicles in 2023. Suffice it to say that the little more than 200 million euros for the purchase of vehicles with emissions in the 0-20 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer range – i.e. electric ones – arrived practically untouched until the following year. Of course, a contribution of 5,000 euros is not the same as a contribution of up to a maximum of 13,750 euros, but should we deduce that the price is therefore the only obstacle to purchasing an electric vehicle in Italy?
Nobody took the funds for electricity in 2022 and 2023
The doubts about this electric boom are increasing by the hour: “It cannot be overlooked that the outcome is diametrically opposed to the market’s responses to the 2022 and 2023 Ecobonuses, which had left huge residues precisely among the resources allocated to this type of vehicle, which has always encountered strong difficulties in gaining acceptance by the of buyers” writes Massimo Artusi, president of Federauto.
“It is obvious that until the entry into force of the new Prime Ministerial Decree, the absorption capacity in the 0-20 range has always been modest, so much so as to highlight a surplus of resources of around 170 million just a few days after the entry into force of the new ecobonuses . Moreover, this sales trend for low-emission vehicles is confirmed by empirical evidence from the market” continues the manager.
“We ask that the competent administrations urgently investigate further this phenomenon which we consider absolutely anomalous and, probably, not in line with the rationale of the law which is to favor citizens and businesses” concludes Artusi.
70% of Italians would like an electrified one. But he doesn’t buy it because it costs too much and there are few charging stations
The mystery of the 178 million euros: they are missing and no one knows what happened to them
And there is another big question related to incentives, this time of a purely economic nature. As highlighted by UNRAE, 178 million euros less than expected were allocated.
“We were surprised to discover on the day of the opening of the platform that not all the funds foreseen for cars had been made available: 178.3 million were missing. To do this, it will now be necessary to issue a specific Prime Ministerial Decree, which we hope will happen as soon as possible, to avoid yet another period of uncertainty that lies ahead for the market.” writes the National Union of Foreign Motor Vehicle Representatives.
The lack of allocation is distributed among all categories: remaining with the issue of electric vehicles, as we have seen 210 million euros were allocated instead of the budgeted 240 million.
The Government and the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy have not yet released official statements on this missed allocation, and it is difficult to think, by virtue of the very long gestation, that this is a mistake.
So there is the possibility that the fund for the purchase of electricity will be replenished with another 30 million euros. A transfer of resources is also possible, with part of those intended for plug-in hybrids and low-emission cars which will go towards financing the purchase of electric cars.
