Climate change concerns, urban air pollution and new regulations in the transport sector are shifting the attention to Electric Mobility, recognised as the most sustainable solution to alleviate these environmental problems. However, technological and infrastructure problems are limiting its scale-up only to few countries, and Electric Vehicles in Italy still represent a niche market.
The E-MOD project was developed in this framework, with the aim of:
– analysing if the current Italian socio-economic context is suitable for an EV scale-up;
– assessing local and global-scale environmental benefits given by wider EV adoption;
– investigating what new business opportunities a shift towards EM could give;
– propose a strategy for EM development in Italy.
The first task was carried out by comparing Italian sales and government incentives with those of pioneer countries in EV adoption. Social aspects were then assessed creating the EV &Dieselgate web-platform to monitor people’s interest in the topic from social networks, through Word Association and Thematic Cluster analyses.
Experimental tests at Stazione Sperimentale dei Combustibili allowed to show EV benefits compared to Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle (ICEV) in terms of noise, brake wear Particulate Matter (PM), heat release and Electro-Magnetic Field (EMF) emissions. Carbon emissions were instead compared through the LCA method, highlighting the limits of EVs by analysing the sensitivity to battery size and electric energy mix.
A Value Chain analysis allowed to assess which new business models could arise from a shift towards EM, and vehicle-to-grid together with battery 2nd life were selected as the most attractive ones.
Based on the above, we developed a technological roadmap for a wider EV adoption in Italy: the EM 2030 plan. A strong incentive campaign, focused on infrastructure development, should precede a second phase, when the implementation of a proposed Vehicle-To-Grid (V2G) business model would lower EVs Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in such a way to make them an economically viable option, even more convenient than ICEVs.
Principal Academic Tutor
Mario Grosso, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Academic Tutor
Ezio Spessa, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino
External institutions
Italian Regulatory Authority for Electricity Gas and Water
Stazione Sperimentale dei Combustibili (Fuel Experimental Station)
Ricerca Sistema Energetico
ABB
External Tutor
Giuseppe Mauri, Ricerca Sistema Energetico
Team members
Awaz Alfadil Alkhalifa Mohamed, Environmental And Land Planning Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Claudio Giuseppe Carnabuci [Team Controller], Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Gregorio Cioppa, Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Federico Consonni, Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Emanuela Di Carlo, Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Qianqian Li [Communication Coordinator], Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Download the poster of the Project
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