Electric cars:Sales are falling in Europe and Italy, despite the incentives

After a good 2023, the trend of electric cars on the market will reverse.Italy remains, together with Spain, one of the bottom of the continent.

The electric cars they slow down their pace.Not only in Italy - despite the significant growth of the charging infrastructure - but substantially in all the main European markets, with the exception of United Kingdom.The numbers are starting to be worrying, if you consider that in order to achieve the objectives of decarbonisation by 2030, more than 800,000 electric vehicles should be registered per year:in the three-year period 2021-2023 the average stood at 130,000 and the first eight months of 2024 show decreasing values ​​compared to the previous year.

The boost from the ecobonus in June was of little avail

It is he who paints the picture Smart mobility report 2024, made by Energy&Strategy of the School of management of the Polytechnic of Milan.If 2023 ended with almost one in four electric cars registered in Europe (23.4 percent), a further slight increase compared to the previous year despite the decline recorded in Germany, in the first eight months of 2024 the incidence of new electric cars fell to 21.2 percent;degrowth that doesn't stop even in Italy ending up relegating us, together with the Spain, in the last places on the continent for electric cars in circulation:-0.2 percent of registrations in 2023 compared to 2022, already a year of stagnation, and a further -12.3 percent between January and August 2024 compared to the same previous period.The boom that occurred in June was not enough to reverse the trend push of the ecobonus:+38.7 percent of new electric cars compared to the same month 2023.But it was a flash in the pan.

The gap between charging infrastructure and electric cars on the road

Not even the strengthening of charging infrastructure (+35 percent compared to 2022 those with private access, which rose to 500,000 also thanks to the superbonus and now equal to a tenth of those with public access) has convinced Italians to switch to electric.As he explains Davide Chiaroni, deputy director of E&S and head of the Observatory, “if this gap persists we risk having an underused charging network that will not be able to fully support the electricity transition.To guarantee the coordinated development of the market and infrastructure, long-term strategic planning is needed and more incisive and continuous public policies must be adopted to concretely encourage the purchase of electric vehicles".

The offer of on-tap vehicles on the market is increasing

On the other hand, car manufacturers continue to strengthen the offer of vehicles on tap.Even in Italian market, where in the first half of this year there were over 100 (20 percent more than in 2023), with an average price that remained almost constant even in the face of significant improvements in performance in terms of autonomy and of charging power.But the purchase cost remains the biggest obstacle to the massive development of electric cars, despite the increase in the level of incentives available.

For Vittorio Chiesa, director of Energy&Strategy, “the high initial purchase costs and a still limited perception of the long-term benefits of electric mobility, which should instead be explained to public opinion with specific information campaigns, have slowed down registrations.Added to this is a policy of discontinuous economic support, which has contributed to making the development of the market uncertain".To fill the gap with other European countries and achieve the decarbonisation objectives set for 2030, Italy should register on average more than 800,000 electric vehicles per year.(Current) numbers in hand, it seems like a difficult mountain to climb.