Will 2017 finally be the turning point for the electric car? Certainly Enel has decided to give a strong acceleration and is ready to launch an investment plan of up to 300 million to build an infrastructure of 12 charging stations throughout the country, from highways to cities. The program is scheduled to start in April, based on the study carried out together with the Milan Polytechnic and already presented to the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Graziano Delrio.
After all, the diffusion of electric cars is growing rapidly and in the first quarter of 2016 the sale of electric cars in Europe rose by 33%. It's a first hint along a path that has indeed seen a strong advance in electrical models in the large car showrooms, and the birth of agreements such as that of Enel on Eve in Austria or with Api in Italy for fast top-ups on the motorway or at city service stations. But there is still a lot to do and "to give a voice to this innovative, visionary and competitive Italy" the '100 Italian e-mobility stories' study was born, promoted by Enel and the Symbola Foundation which presented it on Wednesday morning in Rome. The report is entirely dedicated to electric mobility and brings together "the excellent experiences from the creation and construction of vehicles to batteries, from components to design, from recharging to apps dedicated to traditional services".
“We tell 100 ways to say electric mobility in Italian – explained the CEO of Enel Francesco Starace and the president of Symbola, Ermete Realacci together – this is an Italy that is in the field in the new era of more sustainable and efficient mobility. The maturity of electricity storage technologies and that of engines, the ever wider diffusion of renewable energy sources and intelligent distribution networks, the objectives set by the climate challenge, make us say that electric mobility can be that of the new Millennium. A challenge that Italy can face thanks to the work of small and large companies in a supply chain that is already playing an important role in the development of the sector”.
REVOLUTION ON THE MARCH
The diffusion of electric cars, documents the Enel-Symbola report, is growing rapidly: +33% in Europe in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the previous year. It grows above all in the United States and China, which together with Norway and the Netherlands represent 70% of world sales. E-cars were the protagonists at the Paris auto show and the launch of the first partnerships between car manufacturers and energy utilities is significant, which sees Italy as the protagonist of a new business model and with unprecedented services for customers finals.
Italy with 6 cars accounts for only 0,01% of electric vehicles, compared to 25% in Norway or 10% in the Netherlands. Our country is not yet at the levels of Northern Europe for recharging infrastructure, but it is a gap that can be overcome with forward-looking strategies and adequate policies.
As demonstrated by '100 Italian e-mobility stories', the Italian supply chain is there and the research centers are ready to face the challenge of the new mobility. The electric car marries innovation from other sectors, starting from the electricity grid, pushes on the efficiency of the engine, on the durability of the batteries, on the electric retrofit of traditional cars, on the recovery of materials in a circular perspective.
“With this collection of stories we want to celebrate the excellence of Made in Italy but also give a boost to the diffusion of electric vehicles. Enel – underlined Francesco Starace – together with some of the main car manufacturers is at the forefront in the development of integrated offers and services for customers and a widespread recharging infrastructure, such as the one we are building along the Italian motorway axis. Furthermore, we are the first in the world to have developed a technology, the Vehicle to Grid, which uses electric vehicles also to guarantee greater efficiency and stability to the distribution network, while at the same time generating revenues for the owners".
“Despite well-known and ancient problems such as public debt, inequality in the distribution of wealth, an often suffocating bureaucracy – says Ermete Realacci – Italy is also a country where problems coexist with excellence. He knows how to innovate without losing his soul, he looks at the world with his feet firmly planted in the territories and between communities, he bets on cohesion and quality. Focusing on sustainability and efficiency, in mobility, as in other sectors, is the way forward and goes in the direction of the Paris Agreement. It is from these talents, from these energies that we must start: encouraging them, enhancing them and bringing them into the system".
Attachments: Enel-Symbola report 100 Stories of e-mobility
