EV drivers in Italy are a rare breed. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tarvares believes the government should do more, much more, to encourage EVs in a country with only 4% EV usage, according to Automotive News Europe. Italy has among of Europe's oldest and most polluting automobiles, and it lags well behind other European countries in terms of EV adoption, with a virtually nonexistent incentive scheme.
Italy, on the other hand, intends to alter that with a $1 billion investment to encourage people to switch from gas- or diesel-powered automobiles to electric vehicles - but this has not yet occurred and must go through the clearance procedure. And Tavares said that just would not enough.
"Italy is spending much less money than any other large European country to support EVs," he added. For instance, the German government spent a total of €9.5 billion euros on the project for about 2.1 million electric vehicles between 2016 and December, when it ended.
"As a result, we are losing opportunities to produce items in Italy. We've already squandered nine months of increased output at Mirafiori, the Fiat 500e facility in Turin, Italy.
"Stellantis has been asking the Italian government for the last nine months to support EV sales," Tavares stated this week, according to Automotive News Europe.
Meanwhile, Stellantis has received minimal government assistance for its native EVs, specifically the Fiat 500 e. The Mirafiori facility has saw a wave of temporary layoffs owing to "sluggish demand."
Furthermore, the Italian government wants Stellantis to increase its yearly manufacturing in Italy to 1 million automobiles from about 750,000 last year. However, Stellantis has been looking for help to make that happen, such as lower energy prices and EV sales incentives, according to Automotive News Europe.
Fiat, for its part, had a difficult year, manufacturing 77,000 500e vehicles compared to the more than 90,000 expected at the start of 2023. The 2024 500e EV, which is now available in Europe (and a car I see everywhere I go), will be available for purchase in the United States in the first RED version in the first quarter of this year.
According to the government, Italy has Europe's oldest vehicle fleet, with at least 11 million Euro 3 (2001 emissions regulations) or lower-grade automobiles on the road. However, the Italian industry ministry is considering investing €930 million ($1 billion) in appealing financial incentives to encourage drivers to switch to electric vehicles. The incentive is anticipated to be presented to automobile representatives on February 1. This includes a €13,750 incentive for Italian people with yearly incomes less than €30,000 to replace obsolete Euro 2 models (meeting emissions regulations established in 1997) with new electric vehicles. An EV built in Italy is much better, and it has the potential to help Fiat recover.
The new proposal also intends to assist low-income families in purchasing made-in-Italy EVs, similar to the advantages granted by France's made-in-France program.
Meanwhile, sales in Italy are booming, with new car registrations up 19% last year to 1.57 million. However, petrol automobiles dominate the market, accounting for more than 29%, according to Electromaps. BEVs still have a 3.9% market share, compared to 4.2% for PHEVs at the same period.
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