Italian drivers will be offered cash to replace their gas-guzzling cars with polluting electric ones.
A 930 million euro ($1 billion) government program will start later this year and will also encourage drivers to choose Italian-made electric cars.
According to the Financial Times, which has seen a concept note drafted by the Italian government on the initiative, the initiative would offer low-income households the option of replacing their 20-year-old car with an electric one. , up to 13,750 euros will be offered. Initiative. Incentives vary depending on the age of the vehicle being scrapped, the financial situation of the driver, and the type of electric vehicle being purchased.
Right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni plans to discuss the initiative with automakers on February 1, according to Bloomberg.
The Financial Times reports that the Italian government has developed this idea to counter the fact that Italy has one of the lowest electric car fleets in Europe and one of the oldest car fleets. He said he came up with the idea.
According to the concept note, the government wants to “promote the purchase of cars actually produced in Italy” and “change Italy’s car fleet, one of the oldest in Europe.”
The initiative will be funded by an 8.7 billion euro fund set up by Meloni’s predecessor, Mario Draghi. Italy has pledged to use the fund to spend €1 billion a year from now until 2030 to make the country’s car fleet younger and greener.
Italy currently has an estimated 11 million vehicles below Euro 3 standards. This means it was manufactured over 19 years ago. Italian drivers are also not very keen on electric cars, with only 3% of cars sold in Italy from January to October 2023 being fully electric. The average across Western Europe for the same period was 16%. Sales of electric cars in France, Germany, Spain and the UK increased by 30% year-on-year in the same period, but in Italy they increased by just 1%.
Sales of electric cars in the UK have been very strong recently, with PA Media reporting that there could be one million fully electric cars on roads across the country by the end of this month.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, a transport policy lobby, said it would be good news to have achieved a “major milestone”, but it still only accounts for around 3% of the UK’s total car fleet. He warned that the car is now completely electric. .
“At a time when people in need are acutely aware of the cost of living, the price of both buying and driving a battery-powered vehicle needs to add up,” he said.