Up-to-date numbers on electric mobility are contained in the Smart Mobility Report 2021 by Politecnico di Milano. Europe is the largest market for electric cars: with almost 1.4 million vehicles registered in 2020 (+137% compared to 2019), it has overtaken China, which registered over 1.3 million vehicles in 2020 (+12% compared to 2019). The United States followed, with almost 330,000 electric vehicles registered (+4%). Among the other countries, we highlight the results of South Korea (+55% vs 2019), Canada (-7% vs 2019) and Japan (-28% vs 2019) with registrations of 52,000 units, 47,000 units and 31,000 units respectively. The top European market is Germany, with more than 394,000 electric cars registered (+263% vs 2019), followed by France, more than 185,000 (+202%) and the UK (more than 175,000 electric cars registered, +140%). In fourth place was Norway (106,000 electric cars, +33% compared to 2019), followed by Sweden and the Netherlands, with 94,000 (+133%) and over 89,000 (+34%) registered electric cars respectively.
Electric mobility in Italy
In Italy, electric cars accounted for 4.3% of total registrations in 2020. A total of 59,875 electric cars were registered, 251% more than the previous year. In the first nine months of 2021, the trend strengthened further, with a total of around 100,000 electric vehicles (pure and hybrid) registered. The growth was driven by purchase incentives, the increase in the supply of electrified models and the growing availability of public access charging infrastructure. In addition to the Ecobonus, there are also incentives for registrations between 1 August 2020 and 31 December 2020 ("Relaunch" decree) and for registrations between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021 ("Budget Law 2021"). Purchases of bicycles (+44%), motorbikes (+210%) and electric buses (+49) have also increased, but cars have undoubtedly driven the electrification of mobility in the country.
Of the total number of vehicles on the road in Italy in 2020, however, electric vehicles will account for less than 1%: are incentives not enough? Where can a decisive push come from? Experts at the Politecnico di Milano point out that "one of the variables that significantly influences the dynamics of the electric car market concerns the evolution of the offer, in terms of technical and economic characteristics of the models offered on the market". In this regard, there has been growth: the number of pure electric and hybrid models offered has increased almost sixfold from 2015 to 2021, with a significant increase over the last three years, which has seen more and more car manufacturers active in the electric sector. The latest figures speak of an offer that includes 116 vehicles (+32% vs 2020), with a prevalence of hybrids (71, +42% vs 2020) compared to pure electrics (45, +18% vs 2020).
The point about the charging infrastructure
Figures released by Politecnico di Milano also indicate that by the end of 2020 there were more than 1.3 million public charging points worldwide, an increase of more than 51% compared to the previous year. More than 70% of these points are of the "normal charge" type, while the remaining points are of the "fast" type. In Europe, there were more than 285,000 public charging points during the same period, while in Italy, as of July 2021, there were 21,500, predominantly in Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Trentino-Alto Adige, Lazio and Veneto. More than 90% of the points are of the "normal charge" type.
On the other hand, there are more than 24,000 private (residential and business) recharging stations, more than 75% of which are wallboxes and the remaining 25% columns, half of which are concentrated in northern regions. The technological trends relating to recharging infrastructures for electric cars are interesting: how will recharging stations, today's reference technology for recharging electric vehicles, evolve? Are there developments towards new technologies? With regard to charging stations, we are working above all on their integration with the electricity grid, with accumulation systems integrated with the charging infrastructure, with the dual aim of reducing the impact of charging on the electricity grid and enabling the installation of charging points even in areas where the grid is 'weak'. One topic that is of particular interest to operators is smart charging: we are talking about mechanisms (we talk about "V1G" and "V2G") through which recharging stations, recharging operators and electric vehicles communicate with each other to "optimise" the recharging process, adapting it to network conditions and the needs of vehicle users.
As regards new technologies for recharging electric vehicles, there is talk of 'Battery Swap' technology, which is based on replacing the empty battery in electric vehicles with a charged one in just a few minutes, and of 'off-grid' recharging solutions, using vans or robots, which are based on the temporal decoupling of the provision of the recharging service and the withdrawal of electricity from the grid: in this case, the constraints of recharging location and time would be removed, and emergency recharging could also be enabled.
But you can go even further, as demonstrated by a technology that has been successfully tested in Italy in recent months: Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer, on which the circuit built by A35 Brebemi is based. "Arena of the futurebuilt by A35 Brebemi. The 1,050-metre-long circuit is located in a private area of the A35 motorway near the Chiari Ovest (BS) exit and is powered by 1 MW of electrical power. With the DWPT, electric vehicles can be recharged by travelling in wired lanes thanks to an innovative system of loops positioned under the asphalt. This technology is adaptable to all vehicles equipped with a special "receiver" that directly transfers the energy needed to charge and run them; advanced connectivity through locally developed Internet of Things technologies would then guarantee maximum road safety, allowing motorways and roads to become smart and communicate with the vehicles that travel on them.
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