ROME – Italian motorists are sensitive to issues such as environmental sustainability or climate change but remain “attached” to classic internal combustion engines. Despite the approval of the provision that imposes an end to the sales of Ice (Internal combustion engine) cars starting from 2035, the “rumors” on the web still support cars powered by petrol and diesel. This figure is the result of a research by SocialCom which, with the support of the Blogmeter platform, carried out a research on the subject in the period between 1 June and 12 July.
The second-hand market crowns diesel. Here are all the numbers
by Diego Longhin
Going into the detail of the research, it emerged that users argue that cars equipped with an electric motor continue to show too many critical issues. Fears related to battery life, the lack of an adequate infrastructure network for recharging and performance, still rated lower than classic engines powered by fossil fuels, stand out under accusation. The opinions examined highlighted how users consider the attention to environmental issues sacrosanct but, at the same time, they often consider the stop set at 2035 too penalizing, especially all users who would have concrete economic difficulties to switch to an electric model without a substantial state incentive. Scrolling through the various web channels (blog, news, forum, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, Review, TikTok), the analysis found that the petrol car is still the “protagonist” of the network and is able to generate higher number of engagements on the topic (1.1M), followed by electric cars and diesel cars.
As for the “negative sentiment” of users, diesel cars are the ones that score the worst (53.6% negative), while electric cars record the highest percentage of “positive sentiment” (42.14%). It should also be noted that the peak of conversations, in the period examined, occurred on 9 June, on the day in which the EU voted to stop the sale of Ice cars by 2035, highlighting how users have used the web to express your opinion.
The potential of the electric car that we do not exploit
“It is paradoxical that Italians still push for petrol and diesel cars – underlined Valentina De Paolis, CEO of Iwr Automotive – Our country suffers a cultural delay, above all in this regard. However, we need a bath of realism and understand that petrol and diesel are energy sources destined to run out. The automotive sector will have to face a long period of transition, which will have to be accompanied, as the research data show, by a great work of cultural change by the Institutions ”.
The current sales figures of Iwr Automotive see a 50% split between traditional and electric engines, a parity which, however, is achieved by electrified cars thanks to the prevalence of hybrid models. In short, everyone wants an electric car but there are still too few who really believe in it or can afford it, so something must be done quickly because the fateful date of 2035 is thirteen years away and time passes quickly.