In Europe, the electric cars do not sell well without direct incentives to buy. That’s how it is. Germany, which has withdrawn aid at the end of 2023, is seeing how the electric sales have been falling since then, with a decline greater than 14%.
Italiaon the other hand, has finally decided to return to giving direct aid for purchases, which could amount to up to 13,750 euros direct discount per car. The results were not long in coming: last June, 13,415 electric cars were sold, exhausting the Italian government’s subsidies in just nine hours.
More than 13,000 euros direct discount on the purchase of an electric car
The figures for the month of June in Italy are overwhelming. Sales of electric cars doubled compared to June 2023, when only 6,154 electric cars had been registered. Thus, in a single day, buyers used up the 240 million euros allocated for subsidies for the purchase of electric cars.
Electric car market share rose to 8.3% in Junewhile the average for the year is 3.9%. Although the annual market share is even lower than the market share of electric vehicles in Spain, sales in June this year show the way forward if electric cars are to be sold.
The aid designed in Italy seems to respond to the requests of ANFAC, the sector’s employers’ association, when designing its aid plan. They are direct aids and the process is very simple for the buyer.
In Spain, the plan MOVES III He arrived three years ago and has been extended until July 2024They are not direct aids, since the buyer receives the bonus after making the investment (and it can take up to two years to receive it), and it is never complete, a percentage must always be declared in the income tax return.
In addition, the application process should be much simpler. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez himself has acknowledged that the MOVES plan does not work. Something especially flagrant considering what happened in Italy.
Aid for the purchase of electric cars in Italy: simple and effective
The Italian aid system, which also applies to hybrid cars, LPG, methane and even used cars, is based on the emissions of the car being purchased (ranges from 0 to 20 g/km of CO₂ and from 21 to 60 g/km of CO₂, for example), as well as a scrappage bonus depending on the Euro homologation of the car being scrapped (Euro 2 or Euro 3, for example).
Of course, the price of the cars to which these discounts can be applied has a limit, 42,700 euros VAT included in the case of those less than 20 g/km, essentially those electric carsand of 54.900 euros for those with emissions between 21 and 60 g/km, that is, those PHEV.
Specifically, for the purchase of an electric or PHEV car, with CO₂ emissions below 20 g/km, the customer obtains a Direct discount of 6,000 euros on the price of the car. If a car with a Euro 0 engine was scrapped for Euro 2, this discount increased to 11,000 euros. In the case of a family with an income of less than 30,000 euros per year, the discount increased to 13,750 euros, allowing them to access a Tesla Model 3 for only 27,000 euros.
The dealership is responsible for all the processing of the aid, the customer does not have to do anything. The aid is for the seller. It will be the dealer who receives the amount discounted to the buyer. And even then the The process is extremely easywith an online platform that allowed all aid to be processed in a single day.
Furthermore, the obligations for the dealer and the buyer are simple. The dealer has 270 days to register the car for which he has requested this aid. Otherwise, he will not be able to collect it. As for the buyer, his only obligation is to Maintain ownership of the car for 12 monthsif you are a natural person (you can put it in the name of another person as long as they are part of the family unit), or for 24 months if you are a legal person. And that’s it.
However, these grants did not come without controversy. Given the rapid depletion of the grants, speculation on the part of the rental companies was suspected. They had exhausted the grants in order to obtain a fleet of cars at a low price.
However, companies, in general, were in the minority when it came to asking for help. According to the published data According to MIMIT (Ministry of Made in Italy), “62% of reservations were made by individuals through car dealers, while the remaining 38% were made by legal entities, including long-term rental companies.” That is, The vast majority of buyers are individuals.
Certainly, with around 13,000 cars a month for a market share of almost 9%, Italy is not going to become the new Norway. However, it is a glaring reminder that The main obstacle to electric carsbeyond its recharging conditions (time, road infrastructure), It’s your price.
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Source: www.motorpasion.com
