· Agreement signed for testing and experimental projects starting with the introduction of electric vehicles in the PwC company fleet
· PwC expects the number of electric vehicles in Italy to grow to up to 1.5 million by 2025, with the price of electric and petrol vehicles converging towards the same level by 2024
Rome, January 25th, 2018 - Enel X and PwC have signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of corporate electric mobility with a programme of testing and experimental projects. The agreement, signed by Francesco Venturini, Head of Enel X, and Oliver Galea, CEO of PwC Advisory, has a term of about 3 years and provides for a preliminary phase of studies and analysis, followed by the implementation of pilot projects in the field.
The objective is to foster the sustainable development of the transport sector, in particular the business sector, exploiting the potential offered by electric mobility in terms of reducing atmospheric pollution and fleet management costs. The test will be carried out with the PwC fleet with the aim of overturning the idea that electric vehicles can only be used by private individuals and in urban areas.
PwC will also provide Enel X with its expertise in the field of electric mobility and fleet management for the development of innovative solutions in managing corporate fleets. In fact, e-cars could easily become part of the corporate world, given that almost half of company vehicles travel less than 100 kilometres a day, well below the average range of electric models on the market. The agreement between Enel and PwC will therefore enable them to share their respective know-how and spread the culture of electric mobility in corporate fleets among the companies in the PwC network in Italy.
The signing of the agreement was followed by a workshop for 40 professionals from the two companies to outline the key features of the project and define the best customer experience.
Employing participatory design-thinking tools and activities, the user experience was delineated, considering the different types of use for electric vehicles within a company. The aim of the user experience is to identify a functional service model, the charging infrastructure and the related processes that will be created to support electric mobility within the PwC network. Experts from the PwC Italia customer practice, long-term rental operators, PwC and Enel X technicians as well as university students interested in electric mobility participated in the workshops.
“The agreement with PwC,” said Francesco Venturini, head of Enel X, “will enable us to identify and focus on the electric vehicle requirements of companies and to develop specific solutions to meet the growing demand for a sustainable and economically advantageous mobility. The technology on the market already makes it possible to introduce electric cars in most corporate fleets, a choice that demonstrates attention to the environment and opens up new opportunities.”
“We are very satisfied with the project launched today, one of the first cases of electric mobility in the corporate environment,” added Giorgio Biscardini, Partner of Strategy&, the PwC strategy house. “To us, this solution represents a perfect response to the need for flexible and dynamic mobility of our network, while also reaping the benefits of the ever greater sustainability, efficiency and economic advantages offered by an electric fleet.”
To promote the spread of zero-emission mobility in Italy, Enel launched a national charging infrastructure plan for the installation of about 7,000 stations by 2020, reaching 14,000 in 2022. The programme provides for comprehensive coverage in all Italian regions. Plans call for the installation of more than 2,500 recharging stations throughout Italy in 2018 alone.
The potential of the electric mobility segment:
A recent analysis by PwC Strategy& forecasts strong growth of electric cars in Italy, with a trend that would see the fleet of electric vehicles rise from the approximately 15,000 currently on the roads to about 0.5 million cars in 2025 in the base scenario or even 1.5 million in the most optimistic projection[1].
This trend will be supported by multiple drivers connected with the greater sustainability, flexibility and economic advantages of electric cars. On the one hand, e-cars can reduce CO2 emissions by 72%, combined with greater efficiency (three times as great) than petrol cars and the flexibility associated with the battery charging infrastructure[2]. On the other hand, electric vehicles will become increasingly price competitive, with the cost of batteries expected to fall 60% by 2025, achieving cost parity between electric and petrol cars by 2024. The average range of today's electric car, now around 200 km, is sufficient for 95% of daily trips, a figure that will increase further with the arrival of new models with ranges of 300-400km[3].
This development is confirmed by PwC’s latest global study “Five trends transforming the automotive industry”, according to which 55% of new vehicles will be electric by 2030, while traditional internal combustion systems will gradually exit the scene.
Internal survey within the PwC Strategy& network:
In the run-up to the launch of the project, PwC conducted a survey within its network to assess the attention and sensitivity of its professionals to these issues, and specifically the offer of new solutions to customer needs for electric mobility. The survey ‑ which involved 6 thousand people with over 1,700 respondents – found an awareness that electric mobility will reach a high level of dissemination in just a few years. The reasons given for purchasing an electric car include reducing pollution (80.6%) and lower operating costs compared to an internal combustion vehicle (55%), considering both the purchase cost and maintenance costs over the years. The majority of respondents said that their home garage would be their preferred place to recharge (53.3%): nearly all said that they would be willing to supplement the use of the company car with domestic recharging solutions (65.3%) that also include access to public stations (25%). The company car park was close behind among the preferences for recharging sites (40.1%). The appeal of complete corporate solutions that integrate office and home recharging was also confirmed by the percentage of respondents who own a private garage (63%).
PwC
PwC's purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We are a network of firms in 157 countries with more than 223,000 people, of which over 4,400 in Italy, committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory, and tax services.
Strategy& is PwC's strategy consulting business, formerly known as Booz & Company, following PwC’s acquisition in 2014.
Enel X
The Enel Group welcomes Enel X, a company dedicated to the development of electric mobility and digital services for customers, cities, companies and government. To promote the development and spread of electric vehicles in Italy, Enel has launched a national charging infrastructure plan for the installation of about 7,000 stations by 2020, reaching 14,000 in 2022. The programme provides for comprehensive coverage in all Italian regions. Plans call for the installation of more than 2,500 charging stations throughout Italy in 2018 alone.
[1] Source: PwC Strategy& analysis.
[2] Source: Enel analysis of data provided by RSE (Energy System Research) - European Environment Agency, EC Joint Research Centre - Ispra, Deloitte, Enerdata.
[3] Source: Enel analysis of own data provided by BNEF, Morgan Stanley.