ROME – Not all of Italy is a country for electric cars. Indeed, far from it. This means that before setting off in a battery-powered car, you need to get a pretty clear idea of the charging stations along the way. Therefore, it is better to choose the most suitable routes in advance and with great care and carefully avoid those without infrastructure.
In short, “Electric holidays? Ouch ouch ouch!”. Today, this could be the replica of that well-known claim, broadcast on TV a few decades ago, when people began to organize their own trips with the advent of new technologies.
This time, however, it is the lovers of car travel who have to have some scruples but who have already chosen “the one on tap”.
Let’s get to the point. From the latest updates detected by Motus-E, which shows the current situation of recharging infrastructures (December 2022), more than half of Italian municipalities (58%) do not currently have public access columns.
The data might not be alarming, if we consider the extremely fragmented administrative nature of the territory: Italy, in fact, is characterized by many small-sized realities that rely on neighboring areas for recharging, mostly the provincial capitals (which boast 32% of total columns).
A condition which in any case, in anticipation of a holiday dedicated to comfort and relaxation, could arouse concern, especially if the final destination does not offer the possibility of refueling once the mileage has been completed.
From this point of view, the report reassures motorists: in Italy there is on average at least one charging point for public use within a radius of 30 km. You can’t stay on foot, of course. However, the price to pay is considerable. Furthermore, it is good to know that it is enough to reduce the distance to 20 km that availability is limited to 99% of the territory, and at 10 km it drops to 86%.
So which areas are left out? It is worth asking. Traveling by electric car could require additional journeys, stops, waits, or provide for additional means of getting back and forth, at worst, a taxi to recover the car.
The analysis
Data in hand, the municipalities without infrastructure, spread throughout Italy, are mostly concentrated in the Centre-South. Focusing on the 44 most populous (with at least 100,000 inhabitants), according to Motus-E, specifically, 7 deserve the black jersey which, as indicated in the figures in brackets, are not only below the national average of 6 columns every 10,000 inhabitants, but even close to zero: Foggia (0.9), Latina (0.8), Prato (0.7), Trieste (0.7), Cagliari (0.6), Sassari (0.6 ), Giugliano in Campania (0.2).
Reasoning for capital cities, which as mentioned often become a reference point for the surrounding areas, the report puts the spotlight on the cities that boast the least number of columns: Prato, Trieste, Vibo Valentia, Crotone and finally, lastly, Isernia.
It does not end here. Isernia, Prato and Trieste, in their respective positions, also end up at the bottom of the table when it comes to high-speed charging. Element to consider, if your days are numbered on holidays: the risk between occupied stations and refueling can be a much longer wait than expected.
The alternative
In all of this, therefore, thinking of alternative solutions therefore becomes indispensable. Before reaching the destination, perhaps you can opt for filling up on the motorway, which currently has over 500 points on the entire network, most of which are high-powered.
Or, if passing through, it may be plausible to stop “on tap” in one of the 14 metropolitan cities of the boot (which cover 33% of the Italian infrastructure). To know on this front that Rome remains in first place for the number of charging points; Venice, on the other hand, last year excelled for the highest number of points in relation to the population; Milan, in relation to the extension of the territory.
Numbers with which the country manages to make 21.5 recharging points available to 100 motorists who use electric cars: figures well above those of countries such as Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom and France.
A special welcome, therefore, for those coming from abroad, but who must not distract from the lack of infrastructural capillarity on the rest of the territory, rather solicit new reflections: equipping areas not yet covered with recharging points, in fact, would not only limit the penalties for those who have converted to electricity, but it would help introduce tourists to lesser-known realities, equally precious for the economy of a unique country like ours.