Italy Burned Through 595 Million Euros in EV Incentives in One Day. The Market Still Has Not Taken Off.

Andrew Till of Mr. EV spends time in Rome to understand why Italy remains one of Europe's slowest EV adopters. The EU reached a 17.4 percent EV market share in 2025. Italy sat at 6.2 percent. With 283,000 EVs on the road, the country is growing, but not at a pace that matches the infrastructure investment the transition will require. The apartment problem is real. Half of all Italian dwellings are apartments, and if you cannot charge at home, the case for an EV weakens considerably. But apartments alone do not explain the gap. Spain has an even higher share of apartment-dwellers than Italy, and Spain is one of the fastest-growing EV markets in Europe. The difference comes down to policy. Spain has offered consistent EV incentives since 2019 and has required every city with more than 50,000 residents to maintain a low-emission zone since 2023. Those zones make driving an older polluting car actively inconvenient on a daily basis. Italy has no equivalent nationwide system. Italy does have an eco bonus. For lower-income households scrapping an older vehicle, the subsidy could reach 13,750 euros. Italy set aside 595 million euros for the program. When the portal opened in October 2025, the entire fund was gone within a single day. That is not a sign of low demand. It is a sign of poor program design. The charging network lags badly. Two-thirds of all public chargers in the EU are concentrated in three countries: the Netherlands, France, and Germany. Italy is nowhere near that group. On Italian motorways, fewer than half of service areas have a rapid charger. In France, practically every motorway stop has rapid charging available. The sales rankings tell their own story. In Italy the top five sellers are the Tesla Model 3 at number one, the Leapmotor T3 at number two, the Tesla Model Y at number three, the Dacia Spring at number four, and the BYD Dolphin at number five. With the scrappage grant applied, the Leapmotor T3 can be purchased for as little as 4,900 euros. The Fiat 500e, built in Turin and Italy's most iconic small car, costs a minimum of 9,950 euros after applying the same grant. Italy's most beloved car is losing the budget EV market in its own home country to a vehicle made in China.