An increase in the ecological awareness of consumers is leading to a profound change in the automotive sector, on the one hand, a new mobility of the future is emerging, characterised by more ecologically friendly cars with increased levels of automation and connectivity.

On the other, the whole concept of the private car is changing, and is being replaced by a widespread ecosystem of more flexible transport services with a growing availability of alternatives. Electrification is, of course, a fundamental part of this transformation. Here are some of the best examples of the changes we are experiencing.

“Bergamo is one of the cities most focused on the sustainable mobility process” and is placed firmly within the top ten Italian provinces with the highest number of registered electric vehicles relative to its population. The local government is investing in electric mobility that is both public – with the purchase of various electric buses – and collective, promoting electric car sharing and electric micro mobility such as electric scooters. 

Hundreds of electric car charging columns have been distributed around the city and province, although to date there is no single database that indicates all the private and public charging points. Bergamo also has an Urban Plan for Sustainable Mobility, which is a strategic planning tool that, over the medium–long term (10 years), is developing a system of urban mobility to achieve its environmental, social and economic sustainability objectives.

In the Porta Nuova area of Milan, users can take advantage of a new ELEC3City service that enables drivers to share 100% electric cars. Besides offering ecological benefits for the city of Milan and the district, the service is intended to give a taste of electric mobility to those who are still sceptical about the use of this type of vehicle.

ELEC3City is the first example in Italy of electric car sharing linked to a specific district within a city, and the aim here is to simplify the management of this type of vehicle within the metropolis. The cars are available from a car park conveniently located within the district and the service is accessed via a dedicated mobile app that offers extremely cost-effective rates. The operator has full responsibility for the charging and maintenance of the vehicles.

This town in Romagna has always catered to the services required by tourists. In recent years, it has adopted car, bicycle and scooter sharing, and has been undergoing a process of planning for charging stations for electric cars since 2018.

Four years ago, the municipality identified the economic operator who would be contracted to install and operate electric charging facilities on public land for private use. The charging column ecosystem follows a capillary and functional distribution scheme as the new public charging infrastructures are placed at key urban positions based on the axis points of the most intense traffic, intermodal nodes and widespread hubs that have the highest number of residents and visitors, with a focus to also include the areas of “weak demand”, e.g., portions of the territory with low- or medium–low transport demand characterised by a less dense population.