Electric company fleets and electric cars: why Italy is lagging behind Europe and what it needs to catch up

Lower maintenance costs and charging advantages thanks to technology, but reimbursement taxation and outdated regulations are slowing the battery electric vehicle market.

Across the rest of Europe, the company fleet sector is leading the electric transition. Large volumes, multi-year leasing contracts and rapid fleet replacement cycles are the key features of a system that plays a major role in the automotive market. In Italy, however, the situation is different. Company cars account for around 30% of the market, compared with 50% to 60% in other European countries such as Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

In Italy, “the company fleet sector, as far as fully electric vehicles are concerned, accounts for between 7% and 8% of the total, considering both purchases and leasing,” explains Matteo Gizzi, Head of E-mobility Market Intelligence at Motus-E, describing it as “a penetration rate that is still very low compared with other powertrains”, although it is growing.

Looking more broadly at the battery electric vehicle market, particularly the plug-in segment, growth has been driven by a specific regulatory factor. It “has performed very well over the past year, particularly among large companies, thanks to the benefit provided by the new fringe benefit rules, which reduced the rate for plug-in vehicles to 20%”.

Among the strongest supporters of electric company fleets are large companies, driven by environmental targets and ESG requirements. These include utilities in the energy sector and multinational companies operating in Italy, from pharmaceuticals to construction. After three or four years, these companies then bring high-quality vehicles onto the second-hand market, allowing private buyers to gradually move towards electric mobility.

Small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed professionals, on the other hand, are still struggling to keep pace with this transition. Encouraging signs are also emerging from logistics, both in last-mile delivery, where restrictions on access to urban centres are also providing an incentive, and in medium and long-distance road transport, where savings can reach 20% to 30%.

However, challenges remain widespread, and Gizzi identifies two opposing issues: “Very often, there is a lack of engagement among company employees because electric cars are still perceived as a very radical change in personal habits.”
On the other hand, companies lack meaningful incentives: “The fringe benefit does provide advantages, but these mainly go to the end user and much less to the company, which is not fully involved in this process.”

Yet when it comes to economic benefits, the so-called Total Cost of Ownership, calculated over a four-year period, shows that an electric car, even in the least favourable scenario, can deliver savings of between 25% and 30% in the C-segment, the most widespread category.

BEVs are cheaper over the medium term not only because of the cost of electricity compared with conventional fuels, but also because maintenance costs are 60% lower and vehicles spend less time off the road than petrol or diesel models.

But while the fringe benefit is helping to drive the electrification of company fleets, one obstacle outweighs all the others: the tax treatment of home charging.

“Today, there is this unique interpretation whereby reimbursement for the portion of electricity used for home charging is included in personal income tax,” explains Matteo Gizzi.

The result is paradoxical: the economic advantage of charging at home, where electricity tariffs are often lower, is completely absorbed by taxation.

In recent weeks, several automotive industry associations, Motus-E, Anfia, Unrae and Aniasa, submitted a joint proposal to the Italian government calling for a broad review of tax rules and vehicle deductibility, including vehicles used for both business and private purposes.

The objective is twofold, Gizzi explains: “to renew and adjust the values to reflect the current market” and “to support this channel, as Italy has the lowest electrification rate among the main European countries”.

Another major issue concerns the installation of charging points at company premises, as one of the most common risks is oversizing the infrastructure required to charge the fleet.

It is not necessary to install a maximum-power charging point for every vehicle because cars remain parked for long periods. This can be managed through systems that comply with smart charging regulations, which will become mandatory from January 2027, and through software that intelligently manages electricity loads.

The Motus-E representative explains: “It is sufficient to have enough power to guarantee a full charge within the average parking time, which at the workplace is between seven and eight hours. This makes it possible to manage loads and return the car to employees 80% charged at the end of the day, without having to invest in oversized and costly electrical systems. Thanks to the available software, the different loads can be defined precisely."

Finally, integrating fleet management systems with energy management platforms creates an additional opportunity for savings, thanks to the possibility of charging vehicles when electricity prices are lower.

This article was realized in collaboration with Rinnovabili.