Car bonus, decree published: up to EUR 11,000 non-repayable

The return of incentives for the purchase of an electric car is approaching, although access to them will still take some time. In fact, the decree of 8 August 2025 on incentives for the purchase of electric cars as envisaged by the remodelling of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRP) has been published in the Official Gazette. The regulation this time is reserved for very specific groups of citizenship: it is composed of 17 articles and provides up to 11 thousand euro non-repayable for the purchase of an electric car for citizens (with a limit of 40 thousand euro Isee) and up to 20 thousand euro for micro-businesses for the purchase of commercial vehicles.

The start-up date of Sogei's platform through which the incentives can be accessed is now awaited. The start-up date, explained Environment and Energy Development Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin in recent days, is subject to the definition of commuting routes in large areas, which is one of the criteria to which the facility is linked. The benefit is reserved for individuals and micro-businesses with residence or registered office in functional urban areas (cities of over 50,000 inhabitants and commuting areas). Istat, however, is currently reviewing the definition of commuting routes of large areas and the government must decide soon whether to proceed with the current maps, which date back some ten years, or to wait for Istat's new elaborations.

The initiative, financed with resources from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, makes EUR 597 million available. These funds were previously focused on the electric recharging network. The objective is to encourage the renewal of the circulating fleet with zero-emission vehicles, contributing to reducing urban pollution and improving air quality. To access the contribution, it will be necessary to scrap a thermal vehicle up to Euro 5. But, beware: with an anti-crafty rule, the decree stipulates that those who access the incentives must be the first owner of the car to be scrapped for at least six months.

The set of limitations in the decree do not please consumers, with Codacons criticising new requirements such as residence in a functional urban area or Fua (Functional Urban Area) a barrier that already excludes, they claim, almost half of the citizenry.

The new support is intended for economically disadvantaged individuals (with an Isee up to or equal to EUR 40,000, while above this threshold no bonus is envisaged) and for micro-enterprises, i.e. companies with fewer than 10 people and an annual turnover or balance sheet not exceeding EUR 2 million.