The diffusion of electric vehicles in Italy as a means to tackle main environmental issues

Today there is a huge debate about the diffusion of electric vehicles (EV) to reduce air pollution and the countries' dependence on fossil fuels. The aim of this work is to estimate the environmental impact that the diffusion of EV may have in Italy. Notwithstanding the penetration of EV in the Italian market is still negligible, policy makers consider the massive diffusion of EV as a valid answer to tackle pollution issues (especially at city level). The scenario analysis conducted in this work shows how the diffusion of EVs would dramatically reduce CO
₂
emissions, with particular reference to some Italian regions which offer a higher margin for intervention in terms of number of traditional vehicles that can be replaced with EV.