Italy may have underestimated the potential of the electric vehicle market on its soil. The website dedicated to its new bonus only lasted 9 hours. The budget of 240 million euros intended for the purchase of 100% electric cars has been exhausted.
The Italian government was forced to close its portal dedicated to subsidies for electric cars in a rush. It was only online for 9 hours. In early February, Italy announced the implementation of its bonus. A total of 950 million euros were put on the table, but only 240 million were actually dedicated to electric cars.
Italian consumers could claim up to 13,750 euros in assistance. To receive this maximum bonus, several criteria had to be met, including having an annual income of less than 30,000 euros, scrapping an old Euro 2 car, and buying an electric car that does not exceed 35,000 euros. An assistance of 6,000 euros was available regardless of income.
It turns out that the 240 million euros allocated to electric cars were exhausted in just… 9 hours. The demand was so high that the site had to be closed. Subsidies for plug-in hybrids, simple hybrids, and gasoline cars with CO2 emissions between 61 and 135 g/km are still available.
In Italy, the share of electric cars in new registrations is very low. It doesn’t even reach 5%, compared to 17.7% in France. However, it seems that the country lacked ambition. The budget of 240 million euros to promote electrification was clearly not sufficient. To catch up, Italy will likely have to dig deeper into its pockets.
For comparison, Germany, for example, has allocated 10 billion euros since 2016. And the current situation in the country proves that the bonus plays a major role in the adoption of electric vehicles. Since the removal of subsidies at the end of 2023 in Germany, the market has been slowing down.