“To support the demand for electric cars in Italy we need significant injections of incentives, otherwise we won’t be able to do it. They cost us 40% more”. The words of Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, in a hearing in the Chamber last Friday 11 October, sparked a real political uproar. From Matteo Salvini who blames the Italian automotive crisis on the Franco-Portuguese manager to Calenda and Schlein who accuse Tavares of not proposing any industrial plan: the chorus is bipartisan and indignant. And today, Monday 14 October, the Franco-Portuguese manager took things further by not ruling out layoffs “to relaunch Stellantis” in the long term.
But how much has the Italian state spent to accelerate the transition and what is being done in Europe? Let’s try to clarify.
Almost 1 billion in incentives in 2024: the largest portion is (also) for internal combustion cars
In 2024, Italy has allocated almost one billion euros (950 million to be precise) for the purchase of cars, motorbikes and commercial vehicles with low ecological impact. As regards the car fleet, the division was made by emission bands.
The first includes all “full electric” cars, i.e. vehicles with emissions of less than twenty grams per kilometer traveled (20g/km) of carbon dioxide. In the second band there are all cars with polluting emissions between 21-60 g/km of CO2. We are essentially talking about the so-called plug-in hybrids, i.e. all those cars with dual fuel: thermal and electric. They have a rechargeable traction battery, but with a generally more limited autonomy than the first-rate ones.
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We then come to all those cars with emissions between 61-135 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, the third band. In this case we are talking about a very varied fleet of cars. Inside we find both cars with the latest generation low-emission combustion engines and hybrid cars (full and mild). The category also includes many C segment cars (approximately 4 and a half meters in length) and even some from the D segment (a length that can reach 5 metres).
The great contradiction is one: if in 2035 the European Union announced the definitive stop to thermal engines, the latter are among those that, in 2024, we have encouraged the most.
In fact, if 240 million euros of incentives were allocated to full electric cars and 150 million to the so-called plug-in hybrids, it is the third group that has obtained the greatest funding. In particular for the purchase of hybrid or latest generation thermal cars, the funds amounted to approximately 403 million euros.
A unique case in Europe. But, beyond political evaluations, to understand the reason for an apparently illogical choice it is important to look at what happened in 2023 and 2022.
The flop of incentives for electric in 2023 and the “lesson” of 2024
In 2024, almost 1 billion euros could be allocated, thanks to the recovery of what was not spent last year: around 300 million euros. And there is a precedent. In 2022, for example, almost 44% of the allocated funds amounting to 289 million euros remained unused.
Remaining to 2023, 94.5 million euros (out of an allocation of 190 million) intended for “full electric” cars and 202 million for plug-in hybrids were not used. In this case, motorists almost deserted the bonus: consider that the initial allocation was 235 million euros.
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And if the first temptation is to believe that, incentives or not, Italians don’t like electric cars, things are perhaps more complex. To realize this, just look at this year’s data. As we write this article, i.e. on 14 October 2024, the funds allocated for “full electric” cars are in fact exhausted, those for the latest generation hybrids and thermals are running out, while the purchases of plug-in cars.
However, what changed was the form assigned to the bonuses: the incentives also allowed those who could not afford an electric car to experiment with this option. In particular, in 2024, by scrapping an old car (from 0 to 2 euros) you could get up to 13,750 euros in incentives for an electric car.
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An amount that has almost doubled compared to 2023 and covers over 50% of the purchase price of the cheapest small cars. And even if there are those who have seen, behind the boom in purchases, the long hand of the car rental companies, with the government denying anomalies, the fact is that this year the incentives have worked decidedly better than the previous year. And the key could be to have granted higher amounts for individual consumers.
But, to understand whether Tavares’ words make sense or not, we must also look outside our borders.
What other European countries do
That electric cars are currently sold in Europe only in the presence of substantial state incentives is something Germany teaches us where we are witnessing the crisis of Volkswagen and Audi. In August, Berlin recorded a 69% drop in electric car sales compared to the previous year.
For analysts it is the side effect of the end of incentives for consumers, decided by the Government in 2023. But the data, and the consequent crisis of Volkswagen which announced layoffs and relocations, have not left Olaf Scholz’s executive indifferent, which has already announced the allocation of new funds for the transition. By next year, 585 million euros should be allocated for the purchase of an electric car. Incentives that should reach 685 million euros in 2028.
Even in France, with the “ecological bonus”, the government invests almost 1 and a half billion euros in the purchase of low-emission cars (which will decrease by 500 million euros in 2025), but with more stringent conditions. Cars entitled to the bonus must be powered exclusively by electricity or hydrogen and not exceed a certain size. The focus is therefore on models that have high energy efficiency and that are reminiscent, at least in part, of the old family runabouts that contributed to the spread of the mass car. In the French model, a social leasing is also agreed (sold out by 2024) for zero-emission vehicles.
Spain is also moving in this direction with the “Moves III” programme. It envisages a program of 1.5 billion euros, to be distributed to the autonomous communities to promote electric mobility through the purchase of zero-emission cars and the creation of charging infrastructures.
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Our investments, however, beyond the French experience, do not differ too much from those of the rest of Europe. What changes is perhaps how we decided to distribute the money for this transition by including, once again, combustion engine cars, albeit with low CO2 emissions, in the subsidies.
In short, the evidence is that, even within Palazzo Chigi, there is skepticism about the future of electric mobility. The fact that the only manufacturer left in Italy then indirectly blames the crisis on the institutions is part of the party game. And the fear is that the workers will pay the price, very soon.
