The North America does significantly better than Europe in attracting investments from car manufacturers for the production of electric vehicles, batteries and for the creation of charging infrastructure. And among the large EU economies, Italy is unfortunately rThis brings up the rear: the few investments announced so far, which should concern our country, could also be at risk, based on the latest declarations by ACC (the joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes and TotalEnergies) on the slowdowns that will affect the Termoli gigafactory project. These are the main data that emerge from a new report by Transport & Environment (T&E), the independent European environmental organisation.
Investments in e-mobility: North America beats Europe
The T&E Transport & Environment studio has created a mapping of capital flows by analyzing all public investment announcements, between 2021 and 2023, of the 19 main car manufacturers, globally (including European, American, Chinese, Japanese, South Korean manufacturers), producing electric vehicles, batteries, charging infrastructure. The weakness of the EU's electrification objectives in the 2020s and the attraction of US subsidy policies (the IRA), in fact, meant that Europe secured just over a quarter (26%) of global e-mobility investments announced between 2021 and 2023. More than a third (37%) went to United States, Canada and Mexico, despite the North America is a region with smaller production volumes than those in Europe. T&E calls on Europe to counter this trend by ending uncertainty over the 2035 zero emissions target for passenger cars, and by adopting a strong industrial policy to build its supply chain for electric mobility.
Investments in the EU
Last year, to Europe, mostly development of industry and infrastructure for electric mobility, global automotive players have allocated 42 billion euros of investments, compared to 9 billion euros in China (where, however, the level of development of this industry is already much greater) and 58 billion euros in North America. The growth rate of investments in Europe, in 2023, decreased compared to 2022; this is probably due to the fact that car manufacturers have no emissions reduction targets, for four years, after 2025. The largest beneficiaries of the investment flow in Europe, between 2021 and 2023, were the United Kingdom (26 billion euros), Germany (13 billion euros) and Spain (10 billion euros). Italy, an important production hub for Stellantis, managed to attract only 1.3 billion euros.
Absence of reduction targets in the EU
“Regulation has always guided and supported investments in clean mobility. Now Europe is falling behind due to an absence of targets for reducing CO2 emissions, for four years, between 2025 and 2030. To reverse this situation, and guarantee industrial growth and jobs, the first step is to put an end to any uncertainty about the EU's 2035 zero-emission car target.”declared Andrea Boraschi, director of the Italian T&E office.
Stellantis invests only 10% in Europe for e-mobility
According to the T&E report, Europe is currently a very popular destination less attractive, for non-European car manufacturers, compared to North America. In countries across the Atlantic, almost two-thirds (65%) of investments in electric vehicles, between 2021 and 2023, come from foreign industries, attracted above all by the subsidies provided by theInflation Reduction Act. Europe experiences a substantially opposite situation: 80% of the financing intended for the electrification of road transport comes from the European automotive sector. The case of Stellantis, the second European car manufacturer, is emblematic, as it directed 74% of its investments in North America and committed only 10% to its own region. The few investments planned for Italy also concern the gigafactory that ACC, of which Stellantis holds 45%, should build in Termoli; and on whose development have been concentrated, in recent days, important unknowns.
Support electric cars to support European automotive
“The EU urgently needs a stronger industrial strategy, a robust transition fund, capable of attracting more investors. In this context, the country that needs to change strategy more than others is Italy. The numbers from our study prove that the crusades against electric mobility only result in remaining on the margins of the flow of investments: an almost infallible way, unfortunately, to put tens of thousands of jobs and an industry that is worth more than 5% of our GDP,” he said Andrea Boraschi.
