Because the transition to the electric car in Italy is slow

If the sale of electric cars in Europe It reached 15% last May Compared to the aggregate data of registrations, we lagged behind in Italy: in the same month, in fact, the sale of “all-electric” models stabilized at a much lower price 4.1%. increased percentage compared to 3.6% It was recorded in May 2022, but it is still well below the European average.

To try to understand the cause of this anomaly, we asked for an opinion Antonio de BellisPrincipal Director of e-Mobility at ABB Italia and Vice-President of Motus-E, the Italian-born association for organizing and accelerating the transition towards electric mobility.

According to De Bellis, the reasons for the decline in the percentage of sales of “all-electric” cars in our country are due to a negative mix Rough knowledge on the part of the users and lack of vision in the future perspective on the part of the politicians. “If you are in a country where there is a campaign based more on fake news than on facts, a great deal of uncertainty will be created for a purchase that is necessary in some cases, ‘like a car,’ in others perhaps more.”

De Bellis points out that the Lack of information It can lead potential customers to believe in the imminent appearance of technologies that have not yet matured in the automotive market, such ashydrogen, diverting potential buyers from all-electric models already on the list price. “When also talking to friends and acquaintances who have to change cars, the problem they have in mind is more or less related to all these contradictions mentioned. We often hear “the future will be hydrogen”. but it’s true? Until then, it seemed, here in Italy, that hydrogen is The holy grail of the future for the car. But – and I speak from an engineering point of view – I can only say “good luck” on this matter. In the sense that sooner or later we will reach the goal [di trovare in commercio veicoli con propulsione a idrogeno, ndr], but first of all I don’t think it will be cars and then it will take time anyway. Technology today is not ready and costs are undoubtedly higher.”

The problem, says de Bellis, is above all political: “If only there was a little more logic in an application incentives Regarding the purchase of cars… Today everything can be said except that we are facilitating the penetration of electric cars, as happened in other countries. There should be less confusion from the point of view of messages for businesses and citizens.”