Male, aged between 45 and 54, living in the north: this is the profile of the person who chooses hybrid and electric cars, a growing trend over the past two months following the difficulties linked to the halt in productive activities and the collapse in consumption caused by the coronavirus. The situation is captured in a report by Ecoverso, the solidarity purchasing association founded in 2013 with the aim of buying hybrid and electric cars and low-environmental-impact vehicles as a group. Between July and August, the figure for Italians moving towards the world of green mobility rose by as many as 78 percentage points, with the vast majority of cases involving men (81 per cent); during this period the vehicles that attracted the most attention from buyers were the new Toyota Yaris Hybrid and the electric Renault Zoe.

Hybrid and electric cars: the profile of those who buy them

Interest in low-emission mobility comes above all from men aged between 45 and 54 (35 per cent), followed by the over-55s (29 per cent) and those in the 34–44 age bracket (26 per cent). But Ecoverso's research — the group through which more than 100 low-environmental-impact vehicles were purchased in July and August — went even deeper, profiling further characteristics of buyers interested in a hybrid or electric car. It emerges that they live predominantly in northern Italy (in 75 per cent of cases) and that many of them live in the provinces of Milan (18 per cent) and Rome (11 per cent); in half of cases they hold a white-collar position, while one in three has a university degree. Sixty-two per cent of the sample are motoring enthusiasts and 15 per cent belong to a solidarity purchasing group, thus sharing a critical approach to consumption and upholding principles of fairness, solidarity and sustainability with regard to purchases.

The benefits: eco-incentives and purchasing groups

"After a period of almost total standstill during the lockdown phase," explain Luca Dal Sillaro and Gianalfredo Furini, founding partners of Ecoverso, "we are fortunately recording a growing trend. Buying through a solidarity purchasing group makes it possible to obtain an additional discount on the list price, without even considering the fact that by combining national and local eco-incentives it is possible to exceed €15,000 in reductions — a sum that is certainly not negligible and capable of making a substantial difference to the everyday finances of an average Italian family."

The August decree allocated a further €500 million in incentives for environmentally friendly powertrains, providing €410 million for the purchase of electric, hybrid and combustion-engine cars within certain emissions limits, and €90 million for charging points. The ecobonus — which are calculated on the basis of grams of CO2 emitted by the car in the combined cycle according to European Nedc parameters — are reserved for cars with a list price below €61,000 in the case of electric vehicles, a figure that drops to €40,000 for hybrid ones.