Study of the e-mobility market with detailed analysis of business models for the Italian operators of the charging infrastructure

Climate change and global warming represent two sides of the same coin that accounts for one of the major challenges that the World has started to face since the last decade. It is a common opinion of experts that the primary responsibility of this phenomenon is the human consumption of fossil fuels and related generation of greenhouse gases (GHG). One of the main sources of GHG generation is the transport sector, accounting for more than 23% of 2014 global emissions: European statistics report that, in 2014, the average emission level of the new registered passenger cars was 124 gCO2/km. In order to achieve the threshold set by EU of 95 gCO2/km by 2021, as average from new registered cars, the introduction of alternative fuels with quasi-zero emissions becomes essential: among the several alternative fuels available on the market, electric mobility has demonstrated to be the most desirable technology to support. The technology of the vehicle is not innovative at all, and the charging stations’ technology is mature too. Nevertheless, even if the e-Mobility market is well developed in few countries, the large majority is still in the impasse waiting for the industry to move autonomously: this issue is called chicken-egg paradox, since it is not clear yet if it is better to push the market from the vehicle side, or from the charging infrastructure one. Then, other two main barriers are the high initial cost of the electric vehicles, and the so-called range anxiety, which is the fear of finishing power while driving without the possibility to charge. Thus, this work has aimed at studying possible business models in the charging infrastructure market, in order to investigate the reasons that could incentivize three different stakeholders in investing in e-Mobility. Even though the business framework identified are different, the final results show similar patterns: the investment in charging stations is hardly profitable for every operator in economic terms, whereas there are plenty of indirect, intangible, and long-term benefits that could convince operators in entering this market. Even though the potential benefits that e-Mobility could bring are evident and valuable not only at the single operator level, but also at wider level, e-Mobility operators still blame the lack of a coordination role as a huge barrier to the achievement of those general benefits, and as the principal cause of the chicken-egg paradox. Thus, it is a diffused opinion that the market wishes the active intervention of international and local regulators as facilitators of the market interactions, for granting an organic diffusion of both vehicles and charging infrastructure markets.