Costs are falling, range is increasing, and fear is fading. Just a few months ago, the thought of replacing our old car with an electric vehicle seemed a gamble. And perhaps it really was. Today, things are changing. Price lists are progressively declining while cars with internal combustion engines continue to rise dangerously, with the paradoxical effect of inflating the used car market in terms of quantity and prices. A bad thing, because this doesn't contribute to to rejuvenate The car fleet, which in Italy is among the oldest in Europe. This is a disaster for the automotive industry itself, which is paying much of the price for its problems in terms of profitability and industrial survival in the fierce battle with the Eastern automotive industry. But let's look at the situation from the perspective of the user, the citizen, the motorist.
Thinking about an electric car? Thinking about it for the first family car and not just for the possible second small city car? A calm evaluation, without preconceptions, can now give us a convenient choiceElectric cars have long had a structural advantage: reduced maintenance, along with the associated running costs. Fears about the expensive purchase? Anxieties about range and charging? Justified until a few months ago. Today, much, perhaps everything, is changing.
Incentives, sometimes (almost always) come back
The latest incentives for purchasing electric cars were a lightning strike, a good lightningOver 50 vouchers worth just under €600 million, which must be spent by November 21st, this time reserved for citizens with an ISEE of less than €40 and for low-turnover micro-businesses with a combustion engine vehicle to scrap, were sold out entirely on the evening of October 22nd, just hours after the online booking platform went live.
Will the incentives return? Yes. When is unknown. Although it is foreseeable that, subject to the availability of public finances, by 2026 or at the latest within the first few months of the following year there will most likely be a new roundThe latest round of sales has undoubtedly guaranteed some great deals, thanks in part to the drop in "normal" price tags. Just think that a small electric city bike, capable of venturing out into the open with a range of over 200 km, could be purchased for around €5 thanks to incentives. That's as much as a mid- to high-end scooter.
Electric price lists still falling
An absolute bargain, if we consider the savings guaranteed by a careful choice in charging procedures and maintenance costs, significantly lower compared to a car with a combustion engine. Not to mention the advantage of being able to drive freely in urban areas, where combustion engines are severely limited by environmental constraints.
But even without considering government incentives, the price premium for electric cars compared to those with internal combustion engines is rapidly decreasing. Until a couple of years ago, the gap averaged 40%, with comparable features. Today, we're below 20%, if we consider the promotions directly from the manufacturers. This additional purchase cost can easily be recovered in two or three years, thanks to the lower average fuel cost and reduced maintenance costs.
Top performance. And now we're going far.
In the meantime, electric cars have increased, thanks to the progress that has affected all aspects of their technology, both their autonomy and their charging speed, that is, the critical points These are slowing the process of replacing combustion-engined cars. It's still too early to say whether Europe's regulatory back-and-forth will restore credibility to the ambitious goal of completely halting the sale of combustion-engined cars by 2035. What's certain is that electric vehicles are rapidly gaining competitiveness.
A journey of 400 or even 500 km before needing to recharge is now a goal achieved for many electric cars, not only high-end but also mid-range. With a minimum of habit By using apps that plan refueling based on the availability of the charging station network, it is now possible to complete even long journeys, in Italy and Europe, in times comparable to those of traditional cars.
All this while fully enjoying the benefits in terms of performance that electric cars have given us since the first models hit the market, starting with acceleration and especially the response times when we press the pedal. Not to mention the silence.
Home charging is convenient and easier
Charging: the number one problem. Even today, it's the unknown factor that keeps many of us from abandoning our beloved old gasoline- or diesel-powered cars. Yet there's no shortage of positive developments. The public grid is slowly growing, but electricity prices remain high and, above all, highly variable. Even the latest studies confirm the difficulties for electric drivers in finding adequate fuel and better costsWhat to do?
The basic criteria remain those repeatedly highlighted in the tutorials published by FIRSTonline: spot charging at public charging stations and without carefully chosen subscription plans can force us to spend even more on charging, relative to the kilometers traveled, than we would on fuel for a traditional car.
Il maximum savings? The recharge with home electricity or at least with your own private charging station. The savings compared to the more expensive public charging options without cards or special discounts can reach as much as 60% or more, especially if our home is equipped with photovoltaic panels and charging occurs while they produce energy in the scenario most favorable to solar energy consumption, namely that of "consumption”. This means, in a realistic scenario that still involves the use of domestic energy drawn from the public grid, cutting the cost per kilometer of our electric car by up to two thirds compared to a combustion engine car.
Spending 25 euro cents or a little more for a kilowatt-hour injected into our car's battery is a really good deal, considering that public charging stations can cost us dangerously close to one euro per kWh. Not bad. Also because, fortunately, Italian legislation is... rewarding evolution technological.
The latest positive example concerns both technical and regulatory facilitations for the home wallboxes 6 kilowatt low cost, which we can install, shelling out around 400 € or slightly more (tax deductible if combined with a new photovoltaic system) even without changing anything in the type of home electrical system or in the supply contract, even if this provides for the "basic" power of 3 kilowatts adopted by the majority of Italian families.
