Charging stations for electric cars, Italy (finally) accelerates and exceeds the 50 thousand mark

Lombardy is the first region for charging stations, Campania records the greatest increase.Our country does not disappoint in comparison with European nations.

On charging points for electric cars Italy is suffering a historic delay compared to the most virtuous European nations.But in recent years the trend has definitely reversed:last year the threshold was exceeded 50 thousand columns installed and our country has surpassed France, Germany and the United Kingdom in the ratio between charging points and electric vehicles in circulation, as well as in the ratio between charging stations and the overall length of the road network.Many confirmations and several surprises emerge from the report fifth edition of the study “Charging infrastructures for public use in Italy” by Motus-E:for example, if the Lombardy remains the first region in terms of number of charging points, Naples it becomes the city with the most charging stations in relation to the surface area, ahead of Milan and Rome.

Numbers doubled in two years

Last year 13,906 were installed in Italy new charging points (3,450 of which only in the last quarter) bringing the total in the area to 50,678 units.In percentage terms, our charging network expanded by 38 percent, substantially doubling compared to 2021.At the same time, the impact of infrastructure has also increased at higher power:22 percent of the charging points installed in 2023 were fast and ultra-fast direct current.The south and the islands continue to catch up:23 percent of the total columns installed are now concentrated here, compared to 19 percent in the center and 58 percent in the north.If, with over 9 thousand charging points, the Lombardy confirms itself as the most virtuous region followed by Piedmont and Veneto, the exploit of the region is surprising Campania, second overall region for infrastructure growth with 2,691 new charging stations installed.

The crux of simplifying the authorization processes

Between the cities, Rome is the one with the most charging points (3,588), followed by Milan (2,883) and from Naples (2,652).However, the picture changes if we consider the number of charging points per km² of surface, with Naples on the top step of the podium (225 points per 100 km²), ahead of Milan (183) and Rome with 67 points.As the general secretary of Motus-E explains, Francesco Naso, "the work necessary to infrastructure the country is not finished, but the path taken is the right one and also in 2024 we will see a constant improvement and expansion of the charging network serving citizens".

Among the issues still to be resolved is undoubtedly that of the simplification and homogenization of information authorization processes, still long and complex:today, for example, as many as 18 percent of the infrastructure has already been installed unusable by end users, because energy distributors are not connected to the grid or due to other bureaucratic complexities.For this reason, highlight again Nose, "it is necessary that all interventions to simplify the procedures are fully implemented by local administrations and that there is closer cooperation between all the subjects involved".

On charging stations, Italy does better than France and Germany

Outside of urban centres, the trend is also positive with regards to charging points motorway, which reached 932 compared to the 496 recorded the previous year;at least one motorway service area out of every three is equipped with charging infrastructure.Considering even the most remote and isolated areas of our peninsula, it is present in at least 86 percent of the national territory a charging point within a radius of 10 kilometers.

With 23 charging points for public use for every 100 electric cars in circulation the Italian infrastructure is placed in front of that of France (14 points for every 100 electric cars in circulation), Germany and the United Kingdom (10 points).Also regarding the number of charging points compared to total length of the road network, our country is ahead, with an average of one charging point every five kilometers of roads, ahead of the United Kingdom (one point every six kilometres), Germany (one point every 7 kilometers) and France (one point every nine kilometres). ).These are numbers that no longer make us look bad in comparison with other European countries.